Buffalo Wild Wings Inc. reported Tuesday second-quarter income and revenue growth, and said it aims to hit an earnings growth goal of 20 percent for 2011.
The Minneapolis-based company’s net earnings for the second quarter ended June 26 increased 16.4 percent to $10.7 million from $9.2 million in the same period last year.
Company-owned restaurant sales grew 27.6 percent to $167.9 million, while total revenue increased 26.4 percent to $184.1 million.
The chicken-wing chain said same-store sales increased 5.9 percent at company-owned restaurants in the second quarter, while same-store sales at franchised units increased 2.7 percent for the same three-month period.
Buffalo Wild Wings, which has 773 restaurants in 45 states and Canada, is also looking to expand in new markets such as Philadelphia and Seattle this year.
In the second half of 2011, the chain plans to open 20 company-owned restaurants in the U.S. and three in Canada, while franchisees are expected to open about 37 locations, hitting the company’s 13-percent unit growth goal for the year. Additionally, the chain opened its first international location in the second quarter, near Toronto, said Sally Smith, Buffalo Wild Wings chief executive.
“With the strength of our bottom-line performance to date, the NFL season intact, and continuing same-store sales momentum, we should achieve net earnings growth of more than 20 percent for the year,” Smith said.
Buffalo Wild Wings relies on televised sports events to generate a substantial chunk of sales and traffic, which is why the chain was relieved Monday when NFL players signed a labor agreement with team owners to end the 132-day lockout.
The start of the 2011 third quarter began positively for Buffalo Wild Wings. For the first four weeks of the current quarter, same-store sales at company-owned restaurants were up 4.9 percent, while same-store sales at franchised stores were up 3 percent.
Buffalo Wild Wings will celebrate the return of the NFL season by honoring its offer of six free wings to anyone who signed its Save our Season Facebook petition. More than 45,000 fans signed the petition and the chain is prepared to give away 270,000 free wings during NFL games in September.
Chicken wings make up 20 percent of the chain’s sales.
Contact Alan Snel at [email protected].
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