RICHMOND HEIGHTS, Mo. Panera Bread Co., which recently raised its guidance for full-year earnings because of strong same-store sales growth, reported this week a 48-percent jump in net income for the first quarter.
The operator or franchisor of 1,388 bakery-cafe restaurants said its net income totaled $25.8 million, or 82 cents a share for the quarter ended March 30, compared with year-ago profit of $17.4 million, or 57 cents a share.
Panera said first-quarter revenue climbed 14 percent to $364.2 million on the strength of same-store sales growth and new-unit development. Same-store sales rose 10 percent and 9 percent at company and franchised locations, respectively. In the year-ago first quarter, Panera reported same-store sales growth of 0.3 percent at company stores and 1.0 percent at franchised units.
Panera's company-store base grew by 4.3 percent and the franchised-unit base by 3.8 percent since the end of 2009’s first quarter.
Through the first 27 days of April, same-store sales were up on a year-over-year basis by 10.3 percent and 10.4 percent at company and franchised restaurants, respectively, Panera said. The company projected second quarter earnings in the range of 81 cents to 83 cents per share, an increase of 25 percent to 28 percent from the same period a year earlier.
Last week, Panera raised its targeted earnings per share for 2010 to $3.40 to $3.44, an increase of 22 percent to 24 percent over fiscal 2009 results. In February the company forecast 2010 EPS of $3.26 to $3.34.
Panera said its revised earnings per share numbers are based on the assumption that no share repurchases will be executed and that fiscal 2010 same-store sales for company locations will rise by between 6.5 percent and 7.5 percent. Two months ago the company said it expected 2010 same-store sales to climb by 4.5 percent to 6.5 percent.
The bakery-cafes operated by Panera and its franchisees use the Panera Bread Co., Saint Louis Bread Co. and Paradise Bakery & Cafe brands.
Panera’s performance in the first quarter of 2010 follows a 39-percent, year-over-year gain in earnings per share in the same 2009 period, chairman and chief executive Ron Shaich noted April 20. It “validates our commitment to invest in our business to benefit the customer in the face of the recession,” he added.
For fiscal 2009, Panera reported a 27.6-percent increase in net income, to $86.1 million, or $2.78 per share, on a 4.2-percent jump in revenue, to $1.4 billion.
“Even though this was the so-called great recession, we didn’t respond to it,” Shaich told Nation’s Restaurant News editors recently while addressing the staying power of his company. “When everyone zagged, we zigged. We invested more in the customer experience. There were no value menus, no drops in prices. Our thinking was that 90 percent of people were still employed and we wanted to be a better alternative for them."
Contact Alan J. Liddle at [email protected].