Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. continued to see a double-digit same-store sales increase during the first quarter ended March 31, despite supply chain challenges, the company said Tuesday.
The Denver-based fast-casual operator reported a same-store sales increase of 10.4 percent, driven primarily by an increase in average check resulting from menu price increases rolled out in 2014, and, to a lesser extent, by traffic growth.
“We are very proud of our start to 2015, as our average sales volumes reached a record $2.5 million per restaurants,” Steve Ells, Chipotle’s founder, chairman and co-CEO, said in a statement. “We attribute this success to our unique food culture and people culture, which are the driving forces to create a new fast-food model.”
During the quarter, Chipotle experienced pork shortages after suspending a supplier that failed to meet the company’s animal welfare standards.
“But we remain confident that higher quality, responsibly raised ingredients taste better and will continue to resonate with our customers,” Ells said.
During the quarter, Chipotle added 49 new restaurants, bringing its total unit count to 1,831 locations, including 10 units of secondary brand ShopHouse Southeast Asian Kitchen and two units of Pizzeria Locale.
The company expects to open 190 to 205 restaurants in fiscal 2015.
Same-store sales are expected to be in the low-to-mid single digit range for the year.
1Q NET INCOME
Result: $122.6 million, or $3.88 cents per share% Increase: 48% (from $83 million, or $2.64 cents per share)
1Q REVENUE
Result: $1.09 billion% Increase: 20% (from $904.2 million)
1Q SAME-STORE SALES
% Increase systemwide: 10.4%Source: Company report
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