Landry's swings to loss in 2QLandry's swings to loss in 2Q

Ron Ruggless

Landry’s Restaurants Inc. swung to a second-quarter loss from a year-ago profit on a number of charges for lawsuit settlements and costs linked to its purchase of the Oceanaire Seafood Room chain, the company said Monday.

The Houston-based restaurant and hospitality company also noted that second-quarter same-store sales at its restaurants, which include such brands as Landry's Seafood House, Chart House, Rainforest Café and Saltgrass Steak House remained flat compared with the same quarter a year ago.

For the quarter ended June 30, Landry’s posted a loss of $14.1 million, or 87 cents per share, compared with net income of $6.6 million, or 41 cents per share, in the same quarter last year.

Excluding charges for lawsuit settlements, the Oceanaire acquisition, impairment expenses and losses on interest-rate swaps, Landry’s said its second-quarter per-share loss would have totaled 1 cent. Excluding one-time items in the year-ago quarter, the company would have earned 20 cents per share, it said.

Landry’s latest second-quarter revenue rose 4.5 percent to $294.6 million.

Landry’s restaurant and hospitality group booked revenue of $236.9 million in the second quarter, compared to $225.5 million in the year-ago quarter. Gaming revenue at the company’s Golden Nugget properties in Las Vegas and Laughlin, Nev. totaled $57.7 million.

Rick Liem, Landry’s chief financial officer, said in a statement, “We are pleased with the performance of our restaurant and hospitality operations where we experienced sequentially improving same store sales despite the impact of the Gulf oil spill on our three locations in the affected area.”

Landry’s is in the midst of a going-private deal with its founder, chairman, chief executive and president, Tilman J. Fertitta. He has made several attempts over the past two years to purchase the company, and in June raised his offer to $24.50 per share, a 50-cent increase from his last offer in May. The company valued the pending transaction at about $1.4 billion.

Contact Ron Ruggless at [email protected].