Bob Evans beats Street, posts 15% jump in 3rd-Q earnings

Nation's Restaurant News,  Nov 26, 2007  

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COLUMBUS, OHIO -- Bob Evans Farms Inc., the restaurant operator and sausage manufacturer, booked a 14.8-percent increase in earnings for its second quarter ended Oct. 26, to $15.5 million, or 45 cents per share, on a 3.3-percent rise in revenues to $426.3 million.

Net income for a year ago, or the company's fiscal 2007 second quarter, was $13.5 million, or 37 cents per share, and revenues totaled $412.7 million.

Excluding a gain of about 2 cents per share for the sale of restaurant assets, Bob Evans earned 43 cents per share in the latest quarter, still beating analysts' per-share average estimate of 39 cents, according to Thomson Financial.

The company operates 579 Bob Evans family restaurants and 118 Mimi's Cafe casual-dining units.

Some analysts cautioned that the uncertain consumer environment could pressure sales in the next few quarters. Yet Steven A. Davis, Bob Evans chairman and chief executive, expressed optimism about the potential success of the restaurant chain's new Deep Dish Dinners, which are priced starting at $5.99. The company also said that for the full year it expected to earn between $1.77 and $1.84 per share, including a gain of between $4 million and $5 million on the sale of restaurant assets. A year earlier the company posted per-share earnings of $1.66.

Second-quarter same-store sales rose 0.7 percent at Bob Evans Restaurants but fell 1.5 percent at Mimi's Cafe.

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