Ruby Tuesday Inc. swung to a loss for the third quarter ended March 4 as revenue fell 3.8 percent with the closure of two dozen restaurants in the period, the company reported Tuesday.
The Maryville, Tenn.-based casual-dining operator reported a loss of $7.4 million, or 12 cents per share, from a profit of $2.2 million, or 4 cents a share, in the same quarter last year. Revenue fell to $295.6 million, from $307.4 million in last year’s quarter, with a reduction of 30 company-owned restaurants from the prior-year period.
Same-store guest counts fell 1.7 percent for the quarter, but that reflected an improvement over a decline of 6.3 percent in the second quarter.
“We plan to close approximately six to nine additional Ruby Tuesday restaurants during the fourth quarter, for a total of 30 to 33 closures in the second half of this year,” the company said in a statement.
Ruby Tuesday did not offer fiscal guidance for the fourth quarter, but it said it anticipated same-store sales to range between down 1 percent and up 1 percent.
Besides the closure of 24 company-owned Ruby Tuesday restaurants in the quarter, the company closed one Lime Fresh unit. Ruby Tuesday ended the quarter with 755 casual-dining units, 679 company-owned and 76 franchised. It also had 28 Lime Fresh restaurants, 20 company-owned and eight franchised.
NET LOSS
Result: A loss of $7.4 million, or 12 cents per share (from a profit of $2.2 million, or 4 cents per share)REVENUE
Result: $295.6 million% Decrease: 3.8% (from $307.4 million)
SAME-STORE SALES
% Decrease at company-owned restaurants: 1.9%
% Decrease at franchised units: 2.2%
Source: Company report
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