DALLAS, Dec. 16, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Brinker
International, Inc. (NYSE: EAT) today announced selected business
results and a withdrawal of financial guidance for the second
quarter of fiscal 2021 as Chili's® Grill & Bar and
Maggiano's Little Italy® restaurants are impacted by
dining room closures and capacity limitations per state and local
guidelines.
"While positive Chili's traffic in October generated a strong
start to the quarter, the recent rise in COVID-19 cases has
resulted in dining room closures and capacity limitations that will
prevent us from achieving our plans for the second quarter," said
Wyman Roberts, chief executive
officer of Brinker International. "As we work through this
short-term change in the operational environment, we are confident
in our continued ability to outperform the sector and the ability
of our strategies to deliver long-term growth."
BUSINESS UPDATE
Brinker is providing the following intra-quarter updates for the
second quarter of fiscal 2021 to help investors understand the
recent impact of COVID-19 on the Company's business:
|
Company-Owned
Comparable Restaurant Sales(1)
|
|
Fiscal 21 vs
Fiscal 20
|
|
Month or Week
Ended
|
|
October
28
|
|
11/4/2020
|
|
11/11/2020
|
|
11/18/2020
|
|
11/25/2020
|
|
12/2/2020
|
|
12/9/2020
|
Chili's
|
(1.0)%
|
|
(3.9)%
|
|
(5.7)%
|
|
(6.5)%
|
|
(13.3)%
|
|
(13.8)%
|
(12.3)%
|
Maggiano's
|
(34.0)%
|
|
(44.1)%
|
|
(42.4)%
|
|
(44.5)%
|
|
(39.4)%
|
|
(53.8)%
|
(63.9)%
|
Company-owned
|
(4.9)%
|
|
(8.9)%
|
|
(10.3)%
|
|
(11.4)%
|
|
(16.4)%
|
|
(21.1)%
|
(21.7)%
|
(1) Comparable restaurant sales exclude new
restaurants until they have been in operation for more than 18
months. Comparable restaurant sales include sales of virtual brands
generated from those restaurants.
- As of October 28, 2020,
approximately 92% of Chili's and 90% of Maggiano's restaurants were
operating with open dining rooms. As a result of government
mandates to close dining rooms, as of December 9, 2020, approximately 77% of Chili's
and 69% of Maggiano's restaurants were operating with dining rooms
open.
- Chili's continues to outpace the casual dining industry and
grow market share. According to the most recent third-party data
from Knapp-Track, Chili's comparable restaurant sales have been on
average more than 12 percentage points better than comparable
restaurant sales for the casual dining industry during our second
quarter, and Chili's comparable restaurant traffic has been on
average approximately 16 percentage points better than comparable
restaurant traffic for the casual dining industry for the same
period.
- Brinker continues to maintain adequate operating liquidity with
total available liquidity of approximately $646 million as of December 11, 2020, including revolver
availability of approximately $593
million and cash of approximately of $53 million.
GUIDANCE WITHDRAWAL
The Company is withdrawing its financial guidance for the second
quarter of fiscal 2021 as a result of recent dining room
restrictions and COVID-19 related impacts.
FORWARD CALENDAR
The Company expects to return to its normal quarterly business
update schedule. Our next earnings release call for the second
quarter of fiscal 2021 will be on January
27, 2021.
ABOUT BRINKER
Brinker International, Inc. is one of the world's leading casual
dining restaurant companies. Based in Dallas, Texas, as of September 23, 2020, Brinker owned, operated, or
franchised 1,660 restaurants under the names Chili's®
Grill & Bar (1,607 restaurants) and Maggiano's Little
Italy® (53 restaurants).
FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
The statements contained in this release that are not historical
facts are forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section
27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities
Exchange Act of 1934. The forward-looking statements in this
release are based on information available to us as of the date any
such statements are made and we assume no obligation to update
these forward-looking statements except as required by law.
Forward-looking statements are based on our current plans and
expectations and involve risks and uncertainties which could cause
actual results to differ materially from those projected in
forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties are, in
many instances, beyond our control. Such risks and uncertainties
include, among other things, health epidemics or pandemics (such as
COVID-19), the impact of competition, changes in consumer
preferences, consumer perception of food safety, reduced disposable
income, unfavorable publicity, increased minimum wages,
governmental regulations, the impact of mergers, acquisitions,
divestitures and other strategic transactions, the Company's
ability to meet its business strategy plan, third party delivery
risks, loss of key management personnel, failure to hire and retain
high-quality restaurant management, the impact of social media,
failure to protect the security of data of our guests and team
members, product availability, regional business and economic
conditions, litigation, franchisee success, downgrades in our
credit ratings, inflation, changes in the retail industry,
technology failures, failure to protect our intellectual property,
outsourcing, impairment of goodwill or assets, failure to maintain
effective internal control over financial reporting, actions of
activist shareholders, adverse weather conditions, terrorist acts,
health epidemics or pandemics, and tax reform, as well as the risks
described under the caption "Risk Factors" in our most-recent
Annual Report on Form 10-K and Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q.
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SOURCE Brinker International, Inc.