Harvey dents Darden’s 1Q earnings, warns Irma will hurt worseHarvey dents Darden’s 1Q earnings, warns Irma will hurt worse

Hurricane Harvey hurt both same-store sales and earnings at Olive Garden parent Darden Restaurants Inc. in its fiscal first quarter, the company said Tuesday.

But Hurricane Irma will hurt even worse, the CFO warned.

The Orlando-based owner of casual dining chains, including LongHorn Steakhouse and Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen, said that same-store sales at Darden’s chains increased 1.7 percent in the quarter ended Aug. 27, but would have risen 2 percent without Harvey.

The lower sales and closed restaurants hurt earnings per share by 1.5 cents, the company said.

And that just came during the last weekend of the quarter, Darden CFO Rick Cardenas said on the company’s earnings call Tuesday. Irma, he said, would be worse.

“We anticipate Irma will h...