COLUMBUS Ohio Bob Evans Farms Inc., the parent to two restaurant chains and a food products division, swung to a profit in its fiscal third quarter from a year-ago net loss, despite continued sales weakness that led to negative same-store sales at both the Bob Evans and Mimi’s Café brands.
Bob Evans returned to profitability mainly because of comparisons to last year when the company booked more than $75 million in charges from goodwill impairment for Mimi’s Café and restaurant closure costs. Excluding those charges, Bob Evans posted nearly flat year-to-year operating income.
For the quarter ended Jan. 22, Bob Evans earned $18 million, or 58 cents per share, compared with a loss of $51.4 million, or $1.67 per share. Excluding the impairment charges in the year-ago quarter, Bob Evans said its operating income totaled $28.4 million in the latest quarter, versus $28.9 million a year ago.
Latest-quarter revenue fell 3.1 percent to $429.8 million. Same-store sales fell 4.2 percent at Bob Evans and 8.3 percent at Mimi’s Café.
At the end of the third quarter, there were 569 Bob Evans locations and 146 Mimi’s Café restaurants.
Contact Sarah E. Lockyer at [email protected].