Bojangles’ Inc. reported a systemwide same-store sales increase of 0.4 percent in the third quarter ended Sept. 30, in what is expected to be its final quarter as a public company.
The same-store sales improvement, though modest, marks the end of six straight quarters of same-store sales declines for the company, which cited price increases and menu changes for the progress.
The results came days after the company said it had agreed to be acquired by Durational Capital Management LP and The Jordan Company L.P. in a deal that would take the company private.
Revenues for the quarter were up 1.9 percent to $138.7 million, compared with $136 million in the same quarter a year earlier. The company swung to a loss of $2.7 million, or 7 cents per share, from net income of $6.9 million or 18 cents per share in the year-ago quarter. The company attributed the loss to $9.8 million in after-tax charges related to its ongoing “restaurant portfolio optimization” program, which is designed to identify restaurants to refranchise or close.
Bojangles’ closed 10 company-operated restaurants in the third quarter of 2018. The company also said it has plans to refranchise 25 to 30 restaurants in fiscal 2019.
“We believe our back-to-basics strategy of operating ‘well-run restaurants’ is elevating customer perceptions of Bojangles’,” Bojangles’ interim president and CEO Randy Kibler said in statement. “We are enhancing customers’ total brand experience through staffing and training initiatives, improving speed of service at the drive-thru, promoting high-quality signature menu items with value messaging, and building out our technological capabilities to support the use of our new mobile app and delivery test.”
Bojangles’ opened a net 10 stores in the quarter. Year to date, the company has seen a net decrease in 7 restaurants from 766 to 759 units.
The deal with Durational Capital Management LP and The Jordan Company L.P., announced Nov. 6, called for the companies to acquire Bojangles’ for $16.10 per share in a cash transaction. It is expected to close in the first quarter of 2019.
During this transitionary period, Bojangles’ Inc. did not hold its regular earnings call to address third-quarter results.
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Correction: Nov. 13, 2018: This article has been updated to correct details of the company's restaurant optimization program, including the number of stores expected to be refranchised next year.