OKLAHOMA CITY--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Sonic Corp. (NASDAQ: SONC), the nation's largest chain of drive-in restaurants, today announced results for its first fiscal quarter ended November 30, 2011. Key highlights of the company's first quarter report included:
"While our fiscal first quarter reflected continued sales volatility, we remain pleased with our long-term initiatives," said Cliff Hudson, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. "We will continue to refine our strategies, particularly our promotional and creative strategies, to strengthen awareness of our differentiated high-quality products and unique carhop service across all dayparts, which we believe will drive more consistent and sustained same-store sales growth going forward.
"Our business continues to generate strong cash flow for debt paydown and share repurchases," added Hudson. "We expect to generate $35 million to $40 million in free cash flow1 during the current fiscal year. Over the next two to three years we will continue to utilize the strength and flexibility of our business model to grow operating income and use our free cash flow to invest in our brand, opportunistically pay down debt and repurchase stock."
For the first fiscal quarter ended November 30, 2011, revenues decreased 0.7% to $128.3 million from $129.1 million in the year-earlier period. The company's net income for the first quarter of fiscal 2012 totaled $5.5 million or $0.09 per diluted share compared with reported net income of $7.2 million or $0.12 per diluted share in the year-earlier quarter. Excluding a tax benefit of $0.02 per diluted share from a favorable tax settlement in the quarter ended November 30, 2010, net income per diluted share was $0.10 for the first quarter of fiscal 2011.
Management believes that the comparability from excluding the favorable tax settlement provides useful information to investors regarding the underlying business trends and the performance of the company's ongoing operations and is helpful for period-to-period and company-to-company comparisons, which management believes will assist investors in analyzing the financial results of the company and predicting future performance.
For the first fiscal quarter ended November 30, 2011, system-wide same-store sales increased 0.1%. Same-store sales reflected an increase of 0.2% at franchise drive-ins and a 0.1% decrease at company drive-ins.
Company drive-in restaurant margins decreased by 130 basis points. The decrease was caused by higher commodity costs as well as higher operating expenses resulting from higher drive-in level technology costs and credit card processing fees, slightly offset by labor efficiencies.
Across the Sonic system, two new franchise drive-ins were opened in the first quarter of fiscal 2012 versus nine new franchise drive-in openings during the first quarter of fiscal 2011. New franchise drive-in openings in fiscal 2012 are expected to total between 30 and 40.
The company expects its initiatives to drive sales improvements going forward; however, uncertainty with regard to the external environment and its impact on consumer confidence may result in continued sales volatility. The second fiscal quarter is seasonally Sonic's lowest in sales volume and most volatile period, as it is more susceptible to adverse weather conditions. The company's outlook for fiscal 2012 anticipates the following elements:
1 Free cash flow is defined as net income plus depreciation, amortization and stock compensation expense, less capital expenditures and mandatory debt payments.
The company will host a conference call and online web simulcast this afternoon beginning at 5:00 p.m. ET. The conference call can be accessed live over the phone by dialing (877) 874-1569 or (719) 325-4838 for international callers. A replay will be available one hour after the call and can be accessed by dialing (877) 870-5176 or (858) 384-5517 for international callers; the conference ID is 2604676. The replay will be available until Wednesday January 11, 2012. An online replay of the conference call will be available approximately two hours after the conclusion of the live broadcast. A link to this event will be available on the investor section of the company's website, www.sonicdrivein.com.
Sonic, America's Drive-In, originally started as a hamburger and root beer stand in 1953 in Shawnee, Oklahoma called Top Hat Drive-In, and then changed its name to Sonic in 1959. The first drive-in to adopt the Sonic name is still serving customers in Stillwater, Oklahoma. Sonic has more than 3,500 drive-ins coast to coast, where approximately three million customers eat every day. For more information about Sonic Corp. and its subsidiaries, visit Sonic at www.sonicdrivein.com.
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws. Forward-looking statements reflect management's expectations regarding future events and operating performance and speak only as of the date hereof. These forward-looking statements involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in, or underlying, these forward-looking statements are detailed in the company's annual and quarterly report filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The company undertakes no obligation to publicly release revisions to these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unforeseen events, except as required to be reported under the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The tables that follow provide information regarding the number of company-owned drive-ins, franchise drive-ins and system drive-ins in operation as of the end of the periods indicated. In addition, these tables provide information regarding franchise sales, system growth in sales, and both franchise and system average drive-in sales and change in same-store sales. System information includes both company-owned and franchise drive-in information, which we believe is useful in analyzing the growth of our brand. While we do not record franchise drive-in sales as revenues, we believe this information is important in understanding our financial performance since we calculate and record franchise royalties based on a percentage of franchise sales. This information also is indicative of the financial health of our franchisees.
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Sonic Corp.
Claudia San Pedro, 405-225-4846
Vice President of Investor Relations and Treasurer
Source: Sonic Corp.