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CORPORATE PARTICIPANTS
. Matthew Stroud - Darden Restaurants,VP - IR . Brad Richmond - Darden Restaurants,CFO . Drew Madsen - Darden Restaurants,President and COO . Clarence Otis - Darden Restaurants,Chairman and CEO
CONFERENCE CALL PARTICIPANTS
. David Palmer - UBS,Analyst . Jeff Omohundro - Davenport & Company,Analyst . John Glass - Morgan Stanley,Analyst . Michael Kelter - Goldman Sachs,Analyst . Brian Bittner - Oppenheimer & Co.,Analyst . Jeff Bernstein - Barclays Capital,Analyst . Joe Buckley - BofA Merrill Lynch,Analyst . Andy Barish - Jefferies & Company,Analyst . John Ivankoe - JPMorgan Chase & Co.,Analyst . Alvin Concepcion - Citigroup,Analyst . Priya Ohri-Gupta - Barclays Capital,Analyst . Jason West - Deutsche Bank,Analyst
OVERVIEW
Co. reported 1Q13 total sales from continuing operations of $2.03b. Expects FY13 total sales growth to be 9-10% and full-year 2013 diluted net EPS growth from continuing operations to be between plus 5% and 9% plus.
FINANCIAL DATA
1. 1Q13 Total sales from continuing operations = $2.03b. 2. 1Q13 YoverY sales growth = 4.8%. 3. Co. expects FY13 total sales growth to be 9-10%. 4. Co. expects full-year 2013 diluted net EPS growth from continuing operations to be between plus 5% and 9% plus.
PRESENTATION SUMMARY -
Annotation (M.S.) 1. Upcoming Events: 1. Plans to release 2Q13 earnings and same-restaurant sales for fiscal Sept., Oct. and Nov. [2013] on 12/20/12 before market opens with conference call shortly after. 2. Planning to host Annual Analyst and Investor Meeting in Orlando on 02/25/13 and 02/26/13.
1Q13 Financials (B.R.) 1. Highlights: 1. Total sales from continuing operations increased 4.8% to $2.03b. 2. On blended same-restaurant sales basis, results for Red Lobster, Olive Garden and LongHorn Steakhouse declined 0.3%. 3. Saw continued strong same-restaurant sales gains in Specialty Restaurant Group with 2.2% same-restaurant sales growth on blended basis. 2. Expenses (As Percentage of Sales): 1. Food and beverage expenses, approx. 15 BP lower than last year. 1. Favorability was driven by lower cost for seafood, partially offset by higher cost for beef and 40-50 BP unfavorable impact related to promotional pricing strategy this qtr. 2. Values inventory on avg. cost basis. 1. Would expect to see more favorability in seafood cost as moving into 2Q. 2. Restaurant labor expenses, approx. 77 BP lower than last year...