Traffic growth contributed to a 6.4-percent increase in same-store sales at company-owned restaurants in fiscal 2015 for The Habit Restaurants Inc., despite a slowdown in guest count in the fourth quarter, the company said Wednesday.
For the year ended Dec. 29, the Irvine, Calif.-based parent to the Habit Burger Grill chain said the same-store sales increase for the year was attributed to a 2.5-percent hike in traffic and a 3.9-percent increase in transactions.
Net income for the year was $8.9 million, or 22 cents per share, compared with $7.6 million a year ago, before the company was public. Habit Restaurants debuted on the public market in November 2014.
Revenues were $230.6 million for the year, rising from $174.6 million in fiscal 2014.
Russ Bendel, The Habit’s president and CEO, said 2015 was the 12th year of consecutive positive same-store sales, as the chain pushed into the new states of Florida, Virginia, Idaho, Nevada and Washington. During the year, 28 company-owned and four franchise units opened.
“We remain confident that we are well positioned to grow our business over both the near and the long term,” said Bendel in a statement, noting that the company plans to open 30 to 32 company locations and four to six franchised locations.
In the fourth quarter, however, traffic fell 0.2 percent, offsetting a 3.5-percent increase in average transactions that resulted in a fourth-quarter same-store sales increase of 3.3 percent at company-operated restaurants.
Revenue for the quarter was $60.6 million, compared with $48.4 million a year ago. Net income was $1.3 million, or 4 cents per share, compared with $644,000 the prior year, before the company was public.
In fiscal 2016, the Habit is projecting revenue between $286 million to $290 million, with same-store sales growth of about 3 percent.
The chain expects to add 30 to 32 company-owned and four to six franchised or licensed locations.
Habit Burger Grill ended the year with 142 restaurants in California, Arizona, Utah, New Jersey, Florida, Idaho, Virginia, Nevada and Washington.
Contact Lisa Jennings at [email protected].
Follow her on Twitter: @livetodineout