Dallas, Texas 04/24/2014 (FINANCIALSTRENDS) – Brinker International, Inc. (NYSE:EAT) saw its shares drop by an substantive 4.45 percent during trading on 23rd April on the back of 3Q14 operation results that the company announced before markets opened yesterday.
The highlights of the earnings call are as follows.
EPS went up by impressive 16.7 percent when someone time items are considered to peak at 84 cents for the reporting quarter, as against the 72 cents it had reported in 3Q13. The increase in ESP was achieved on the back of increase in sales by 2 percent. Specifically, same restaurant sales went up by 0.7 percent in the reporting quarter. Total sales for the quarter came in at $739.2 million and the restaurant operator also reported a substantive increase of 18.7 percent in the operating margins. Margins in 3Q13 had come in at 17.9 percent during 3Q13.
Year to date, Brinker International, Inc. (NYSE:EAT) had reported cash flow of $277 million as against the expenses of $114 million it had reported for the same period. It also disclosed that it has bought back close to 1.9 million shares in 3Q, by spending nearly $98.7 million in order to increase share holder value. Year to date, share buyback has netted the firm 4.1 million shares in lieu of $191.8 million capital reinvestment.
Brinker International, Inc. (NYSE:EAT) President, Chief Executive Officer, Director Wyman T. Roberts who also holds the post of President of the firm’s flag ship Chili’s Grill & Bar business division has been quoted to have said that, “ We drove double-digit earnings per share growth, positive comp sales and improved our operating margins 90 basis points thanks to our stellar operations teams, the work we’re doing to improve our food service and atmosphere and the effectiveness of our marketing campaigns. So even though our traffic numbers are negative, we have seen steady improvements over the last three quarters”.
