Press Release
Highlights for the first quarter ended
- Total revenue was
$114.5 million compared to$110.0 million . - System-wide comparable restaurant sales(1) increased 0.8%.
- Income from operations was
$7.8 million compared to$3.3 million . - Restaurant contribution(1) was
$14.7 million , or 15.0% of company-operated restaurant revenue, compared to$9.7 million , or 10.3% of company-operated restaurant revenue. - Net income was
$4.9 million , or $0.13 per diluted share, compared to net income of$2.1 million , or$0 .06 per diluted share. - Adjusted net income(1) was
$4.9 million , or $0.14 per diluted share, compared to$2.6 million , or $0.07 per diluted share. - Adjusted EBITDA(1) was $12.2 million, compared to
$8.5 million .
| (1) | System-wide comparable restaurant sales, restaurant contribution, adjusted net income and adjusted EBITDA are not presented in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in |
First Quarter 2023 Financial Results
Company-operated restaurant revenue in the first quarter of 2023 increased to
Franchise revenue in the first quarter of 2023 increased 4.5% to
Income from operations in the first quarter of 2023 was
General and administrative expenses in the first quarter of 2023 was
Net income for the first quarter of 2023 was $4.9 million, or $0.13 per diluted share, compared to net income of
During the first quarter, after paying down
Subsequent Events
Subsequent to the end of the quarter, the Company borrowed
2023 Outlook
The Company is providing the following expectations for 2023:
- The opening of three to five new company-owned restaurants and six to nine new franchised restaurants.
- Capital spend of
$25.0 -$29.0 million . - G&A expense between
$42.0 and$45.0 million , inclusive of one-time costs of approximately$1.4 million primarily related to the reorganization and recent share distribution. - Adjusted income tax rate of 26.5 – 27.5 %.
Definition of Non-GAAP and other Key Financial Measures
System-wide sales are neither required by, nor presented in accordance with, GAAP. System-wide sales are the sum of company-operated restaurant revenue and sales from franchised restaurants. The Company’s total revenue in the condensed consolidated statements of income is limited to company-operated restaurant revenue and franchise revenue from the Company’s franchisees. Accordingly, system-wide sales should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for our results as reported under GAAP. Management believes that the presentation of system-wide sales provides useful information to investors because it is a measure that is widely used in the restaurant industry, including by our management, to evaluate brand scale and market penetration.
Company-operated restaurant revenue consists of sales of food and beverages in company-operated restaurants net of promotional allowances, employee meals, and other discounts. Company-operated restaurant revenue in any period is directly influenced by the number of operating weeks in such period, the number of open restaurants, and comparable restaurant sales. Seasonal factors and the timing of holidays cause our revenue to fluctuate from quarter to quarter. Our revenue per restaurant is typically lower in the first and fourth quarters due to reduced January and December traffic and higher in the second and third quarters. As a result of seasonality, our quarterly and annual results of operations and key performance indicators such as company-operated restaurant revenue and comparable restaurant sales may fluctuate.
Comparable restaurant sales reflect the change in year-over-year sales for the comparable company, franchised and total system restaurant base. The comparable restaurant base is defined to include those restaurants open for 15 months or longer and excludes restaurants that were closed during the applicable period. At
Restaurant contribution and restaurant contribution margin are neither required by, nor presented in accordance with, GAAP. Restaurant contribution is defined as company-operated restaurant revenue less company restaurant expenses, which includes food and paper costs, labor and related expenses, and occupancy and other operating expenses. Restaurant contribution therefore excludes franchise revenue, franchise advertising fee revenue and franchise expenses as well as certain other costs, such as general and administrative expenses, franchise expenses, depreciation and amortization, asset impairment and closed-store reserves, loss on disposal of assets and other costs that are considered corporate-level expenses and are not considered normal operating costs of our restaurants. Accordingly, restaurant contribution is not indicative of overall Company results and does not accrue directly to the benefit of shareholders because of the exclusion of certain corporate-level expenses. Restaurant contribution margin is defined as restaurant contribution as a percentage of net company-operated restaurant revenue. Additionally, because other companies may calculate these measures differently than we do, restaurant contribution and restaurant contribution margin as presented herein may not be comparable to similarly titled measures reported by other companies. Management uses restaurant contribution and restaurant contribution margin as a supplemental measure of restaurant performance. Management believes restaurant level operating margin is useful to investors to highlight trends in our core business that may not otherwise be apparent to investors when relying solely on GAAP financial measures.
EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA are neither required by, nor presented in accordance with, GAAP. EBITDA represents net income before interest expense, provision for income taxes, depreciation, and amortization, and adjusted EBITDA represents EBITDA before items that we do not consider representative of our underlying operating performance, as identified in the reconciliation table included under “Unaudited Reconciliation of Net Income to EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA” in the accompanying financial tables at the end of this release. EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA have limitations as analytical tools, and you should not consider them in isolation, or as substitutes for analysis of our results as reported under GAAP. Some of these limitations are (i) they do not reflect our cash expenditures, or future requirements for capital expenditures or contractual commitments, (ii) they do not reflect changes in, or cash requirements for, our working capital needs, (iii) they do not reflect the significant interest expense, or the cash requirements necessary to service interest or principal payments, on our debt, (iv) although depreciation and amortization are non-cash charges, the assets being depreciated and amortized will often have to be replaced in the future, and EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA do not reflect any cash requirements for such replacements, (v) they do not adjust for all non-cash income or expense items that are reflected in our statements of cash flows, (vi) they do not reflect the impact of earnings or charges resulting from matters we consider not to be indicative of our on-going operations, and (vii) other companies in our industry may calculate these measures differently than we do, limiting their usefulness as comparative measures. We compensate for these limitations by providing specific information regarding the GAAP amounts excluded from such non-GAAP financial measures. We further compensate for the limitations in our use of non-GAAP financial measures by presenting comparable GAAP measures more prominently.
Management uses EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA internally as supplemental measures of our operating performance, including to compare our performance to that of our competitors. Management believes (i) these measures are frequently used by securities analysts, investors and other interested parties to evaluate companies in our industry, (ii) investors will find these measures useful in assessing our ability to service or incur indebtedness, and (iii) these measures provide useful information to investors about our operational performance by highlighting trends in our core business that may not otherwise be apparent to investors when relying solely on GAAP financial measures and enabling investors to more effectively compare the Company’s performance to prior and future periods.
Adjusted net income is neither required by, nor presented in accordance with, GAAP. Adjusted net income represents net income adjusted for (i) costs (or gains) related to loss (or gains) on disposal of assets or assets held for sale and asset impairment and closed store costs reserves, (ii) amortization expense and other estimate adjustments (whether expense or income) incurred on the Tax Receivable Agreement (“TRA”) completed at the time of our IPO, (iii) legal costs associated with securities class action litigation, (iv) extraordinary legal settlement costs, (v) insurance proceeds received related to securities class action legal expenses and (vi) provision for income taxes at a normalized tax rate of 26.9% for the thirteen weeks ended
Conference Call
The Company will host a conference call to discuss financial results for the first quarter of 2023 today at
The conference call can be accessed live over the phone by dialing 201-493-6780. A replay will be available after the call and can be accessed by dialing 412-317-6671; the passcode is 13735811. The replay will be available until
About
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties. All statements other than statements of historical fact included in this press release are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements discuss our current expectations and projections relating to our financial condition, results of operations, plans, objectives, future performance and business. You can identify forward-looking statements because they do not relate strictly to historical or current facts. These statements may include words such as “aim,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “expect,” “forecast,” “outlook,” “potential,” “project,” “projection,” “plan,” “intend,” “seek,” “may,” “could,” “would,” “will,” “should,” “can,” “can have,” “likely,” the negatives thereof and other words and terms of similar meaning in connection with any discussion of the timing or nature of future operating or financial performance or other events. They appear in a number of places throughout this press release and include our 2023 outlook and statements regarding our ability to improve growth and profitability in the current challenging macroeconomic environment, as well as our ongoing business intentions, beliefs or current expectations concerning, among other things, our results of operations, financial condition, sales levels, liquidity, prospects, growth, strategies and the industry in which we operate. All forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those that we expected.
While we believe that our assumptions are reasonable, we caution that it is very difficult to predict the impact of known factors, and it is impossible for us to anticipate all factors that could affect our actual results. All forward-looking statements are expressly qualified in their entirety by these cautionary statements. You should evaluate all forward-looking statements made in this press release in the context of the risks and uncertainties that could cause outcomes to differ materially from our expectations. These factors include, but are not limited to: uncertainty regarding a potential resurgence of the COVID-19 pandemic or another pandemic, epidemic or infectious disease outbreak on our company, our employees, our customers, our partners, our industry and the economy as a whole, as well as our franchisees’ ability to maintain operations in their individual restaurants; global economic or other business conditions that may affect the desire or ability of our customers to purchase our products such as inflationary pressures, high unemployment levels, increases in gas prices, and declines in median income growth, consumer confidence and consumer discretionary spending; our ability to open new restaurants in new and existing markets, including difficulty in finding sites and in negotiating acceptable leases; our ability to compete successfully with other quick-service and fast casual restaurants; vulnerability to changes in political and economic conditions and consumer preferences; our ability to attract, develop, assimilate and retain employees; vulnerability to conditions in the greater
We caution you that the important factors referenced above may not contain all of the factors that are important to you. In addition, we cannot assure you that we will realize the results or developments we expect or anticipate or, even if substantially realized, that they will result in the consequences we anticipate or affect us or our operations in the ways that we expect. The forward-looking statements included in this press release are made only as of the date hereof. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law. If we do update one or more forward-looking statements, no inference should be made that we will make additional updates with respect to those or other forward-looking statements. We qualify all of our forward-looking statements by these cautionary statements.
Non-GAAP Financial Measures
To supplement our consolidated financial statements, which are prepared and presented in accordance with GAAP, we use the following non-GAAP financial measures that are supplemental measures of the operating performance of our business and restaurants: System-wide sales, Restaurant contribution and restaurant contribution margin, EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA, and Adjusted net income. Our calculations of these non-GAAP financial measures may not be comparable to those reported by other companies. These measures have limitations as analytical tools, and are not intended to be considered in isolation or as substitutes for, or superior to, financial measures prepared and presented in accordance with GAAP. We use non-GAAP financial measures for financial and operational decision-making and as a means to evaluate period-to-period comparisons and to evaluate our restaurants’ financial performance against our competitors’ performance. We believe these measures they provide useful information about our operating results, enhance understanding of past performance and future prospects, and allow for greater transparency with respect to key metrics used by management in its financial and operational decision making. These non-GAAP financial measures may also assist investors in evaluating our business and performance relative to industry peers and provide greater transparency with respect to the Company’s financial condition and results of operation.
Additional information about these non-GAAP financial measures (System-wide sales, Restaurant contribution and restaurant contribution margin, EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA, and Adjusted net income) is provided under “Definitions of Non-GAAP and other Key Financial Measures” above. For a reconciliations of each of these non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measure, see “Unaudited Reconciliation of System-Wide Sales to Company-Operated Restaurant Revenue and Total Revenue,” “Unaudited Reconciliation of Net Income to EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA,” “Unaudited Reconciliation of Net Income to Adjusted Net Income” and “Unaudited Reconciliation of Income from Operations to Restaurant Contribution” in the accompanying financial tables at the end of this press release.
Investor Contact:
ICR
Investors@elpolloloco.com
Media Contact:
Edible
EPL.Media@Edible-Inc.com
| EL POLLO LOCO HOLDINGS, INC. UNAUDITED CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF INCOME (in thousands, except share data) |
||||||||||||||
| Thirteen Weeks Ended | ||||||||||||||
| $ | % | $ | % | |||||||||||
| Revenue: | ||||||||||||||
| Company-operated restaurant revenue | $ | 97,873 | 85.5 | $ | 93,957 | 85.4 | ||||||||
| Franchise revenue | 9,672 | 8.4 | 9,255 | 8.4 | ||||||||||
| Franchise advertising fee revenue | 6,981 | 6.1 | 6,836 | 6.2 | ||||||||||
| Total revenue | 114,526 | 100.0 | 110,048 | 100.0 | ||||||||||
| Costs of operations: | ||||||||||||||
| Food and paper cost (1) | 26,902 | 27.5 | 27,732 | 29.5 | ||||||||||
| Labor and related expenses (1) | 31,541 | 32.2 | 32,672 | 34.8 | ||||||||||
| Occupancy and other operating expenses (1) | 24,886 | 25.4 | 23,845 | 25.4 | ||||||||||
| Gain on recovery of insurance proceeds, lost profits, net (1) | (151 | ) | (0.2 | ) | — | — | ||||||||
| Company restaurant expenses (1) | 83,178 | 84.9 | 84,249 | 89.7 | ||||||||||
| General and administrative expenses | 11,199 | 9.8 | 9,954 | 9.0 | ||||||||||
| Franchise expenses | 9,032 | 7.9 | 8,731 | 7.9 | ||||||||||
| Depreciation and amortization | 3,637 | 3.2 | 3,597 | 3.3 | ||||||||||
| Loss on disposal of assets | 30 | 0.0 | 66 | 0.1 | ||||||||||
| Gain on disposition of restaurants | (136 | ) | (0.1 | ) | — | — | ||||||||
| Impairment and closed-store reserves | 77 | 0.1 | 131 | 0.1 | ||||||||||
| Gain on recovery of insurance proceeds, property, equipment and expenses | (242 | ) | (0.2 | ) | — | — | ||||||||
| Total expenses | 106,775 | 93.2 | 106,728 | 97.0 | ||||||||||
| Income from operations | 7,751 | 6.8 | 3,320 | 3.0 | ||||||||||
| Interest expense, net of interest income | 1,004 | 0.9 | 430 | 0.4 | ||||||||||
| Income tax receivable agreement income | (122 | ) | (0.1 | ) | (130 | ) | (0.1 | ) | ||||||
| Income before provision for income taxes | 6,869 | 6.0 | 3,020 | 2.7 | ||||||||||
| Provision for income taxes | 1,951 | 1.7 | 905 | 0.8 | ||||||||||
| Net income | $ | 4,918 | 4.3 | $ | 2,115 | 1.9 | ||||||||
| Net income per share: | ||||||||||||||
| Basic | $ | 0.14 | $ | 0.06 | ||||||||||
| Diluted | $ | 0.13 | $ | 0.06 | ||||||||||
| Weighted average shares used in computing net income per share: | ||||||||||||||
| Basic | 36,234,105 | 36,225,747 | ||||||||||||
| Diluted | 36,478,158 | 36,480,354 | ||||||||||||
| _____________________ | |
| (1) | Percentages for line items relating to cost of operations and company restaurant expenses are calculated with company-operated restaurant revenue as the denominator. All other percentages use total revenue. |
| EL POLLO LOCO HOLDINGS, INC. UNAUDITED SLECTED CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS AND SELECTED OPERATING DATA (dollar amounts in thousands) |
||||||
| As of | ||||||
| Selected Balance Sheet Data: | ||||||
| Cash and cash equivalents | $ | 4,789 | $ | 20,493 | ||
| Total assets | 590,325 | 597,218 | ||||
| Total debt | 58,000 | 66,000 | ||||
| Total liabilities | 309,781 | 316,070 | ||||
| Total stockholders’ equity | 280,544 | 281,148 | ||||
| Thirteen Weeks Ended | |||||||
| Selected Operating Data: | |||||||
| Company-operated restaurants at end of period | 187 | 188 | |||||
| Franchised restaurants at end of period | 303 | 293 | |||||
| Company-operated: | |||||||
| Comparable restaurant sales growth | 3.8 | % | 2.3 | % | |||
| Restaurants in the comparable base | 181 | 182 | |||||
| EL POLLO LOCO HOLDINGS, INC. UNAUDITED RECONCILIATION OF SYSTEM-WIDE SALES TO COMPANY-OPERATED RESTAURANT REVENUE AND TOTAL REVENUE (in thousands) |
||||||||
| Thirteen Weeks Ended | ||||||||
| (Dollar amounts in thousands) | ||||||||
| Company-operated restaurant revenue | $ | 97,873 | $ | 93,957 | ||||
| Franchise revenue | 9,672 | 9,255 | ||||||
| Franchise advertising fee revenue | 6,981 | 6,836 | ||||||
| Total Revenue | 114,526 | 110,048 | ||||||
| Franchise revenue | (9,672 | ) | (9,255 | ) | ||||
| Franchise advertising fee revenue | (6,981 | ) | (6,836 | ) | ||||
| Sales from franchised restaurants | 155,614 | 152,577 | ||||||
| System-wide sales | $ | 253,487 | $ | 246,534 | ||||
| EL POLLO LOCO HOLDINGS, INC. UNAUDITED RECONCILIATION OF NET INCOME TO EBITDA AND ADJUSTED EBITDA (in thousands) |
||||||||
| Thirteen Weeks Ended | ||||||||
| Adjusted EBITDA: | ||||||||
| Net income, as reported | $ | 4,918 | $ | 2,115 | ||||
| Provision for income taxes | 1,951 | 905 | ||||||
| Interest expense, net of interest income | 1,004 | 430 | ||||||
| Depreciation and amortization | 3,637 | 3,597 | ||||||
| EBITDA | $ | 11,510 | $ | 7,047 | ||||
| Stock-based compensation expense (a) | 771 | 826 | ||||||
| Loss on disposal of assets (b) | 30 | 66 | ||||||
| Impairment and closed-store reserves (c) | 77 | 131 | ||||||
| Gain on disposition of restaurants (d) | (136 | ) | — | |||||
| Income tax receivable agreement income (e) | (122 | ) | (130 | ) | ||||
| Securities class action legal expense (f) | — | 437 | ||||||
| Special dividend (g) | 129 | — | ||||||
| Special legal (h) | 298 | — | ||||||
| Gain on recovery of insurance proceeds (i) | (394 | ) | — | |||||
| Pre-opening costs (j) | 5 | 107 | ||||||
| Adjusted EBITDA | $ | 12,168 | $ | 8,484 | ||||
| _____________________ | |
| (a) | Includes non-cash, stock-based compensation. |
| (b) | Loss on disposal of assets includes the loss on disposal of assets related to retirements and replacement or write-off of leasehold improvements or equipment. |
| (c) | Includes costs related to impairment of long-lived and ROU assets and closing restaurants. During the thirteen weeks ended |
| During both the thirteen weeks ended |
|
| (d) | During the thirteen weeks ended |
| (e) | On |
| (f) | Consists of costs and recoveries related to the defense of securities lawsuits. |
| (g) | Consists of costs related to a special dividend declaration. On |
| (h) | Consists of legal costs related to the recent share distribution that occurred on |
| (i) | In |
| (j) | Pre-opening costs are a component of general and administrative expenses, and consist of costs directly associated with the opening of new restaurants and incurred prior to opening, including management labor costs, staff labor costs during training, food and supplies used during training, marketing costs, and other related pre-opening costs. These are generally incurred over the three to five months prior to opening. Pre-opening costs also include occupancy costs incurred between the date of possession and the opening date for a restaurant. |
| EL POLLO LOCO HOLDINGS, INC. UNAUDITED RECONCILIATION OF NET INCOME TO ADJUSTED NET INCOME (dollar amounts in thousands, except share data) |
||||||||
| Thirteen Weeks Ended | ||||||||
| Adjusted net income: | ||||||||
| Net income, as reported | $ | 4,918 | $ | 2,115 | ||||
| Provision for taxes, as reported | 1,951 | 905 | ||||||
| Income tax receivable agreement expense | (122 | ) | (130 | ) | ||||
| Loss on disposal of assets | 30 | 66 | ||||||
| Gain on disposition of restaurants | (136 | ) | — | |||||
| Impairment and closed-store reserves | 77 | 131 | ||||||
| Securities lawsuits related legal expenses | — | 437 | ||||||
| Special dividend | 129 | — | ||||||
| Special legal | 298 | — | ||||||
| Gain on recovery of insurance proceeds | (394 | ) | — | |||||
| Provision for income taxes | (1,816 | ) | (934 | ) | ||||
| Adjusted net income | $ | 4,935 | $ | 2,590 | ||||
| Adjusted weighted-average share and per share data: | ||||||||
| Adjusted net income per share | ||||||||
| Basic | $ | 0.14 | $ | 0.07 | ||||
| Diluted | $ | 0.14 | $ | 0.07 | ||||
| Weighted-average shares used in computing adjusted net income per share | ||||||||
| Basic | 36,234,105 | 36,225,747 | ||||||
| Diluted | 36,478,158 | 36,480,354 | ||||||
| EL POLLO LOCO HOLDINGS, INC. UNAUDITED RECONCILIATION OF INCOME FROM OPERATIONS TO RESTAURANT CONTRIBUTION (dollar amounts in thousands) |
||||||||
| Thirteen Weeks Ended | ||||||||
| Restaurant contribution: | ||||||||
| Income from operations | $ | 7,751 | $ | 3,320 | ||||
| Add (less): | ||||||||
| General and administrative expenses | 11,199 | 9,954 | ||||||
| Franchise expenses | 9,032 | 8,731 | ||||||
| Depreciation and amortization | 3,637 | 3,597 | ||||||
| Loss on disposal of assets | 30 | 66 | ||||||
| Gain on recovery of insurance proceeds, property, equipment and expenses | (242 | ) | — | |||||
| Franchise revenue | (9,672 | ) | (9,255 | ) | ||||
| Franchise advertising fee revenue | (6,981 | ) | (6,836 | ) | ||||
| Gain on disposition of restaurants | (136 | ) | — | |||||
| Impairment and closed-store reserves | 77 | 131 | ||||||
| Restaurant contribution | $ | 14,695 | $ | 9,708 | ||||
| Company-operated restaurant revenue: | ||||||||
| Total revenue | $ | 114,526 | $ | 110,048 | ||||
| Less: | ||||||||
| Franchise revenue | (9,672 | ) | (9,255 | ) | ||||
| Franchise advertising fee revenue | (6,981 | ) | (6,836 | ) | ||||
| Company-operated restaurant revenue | $ | 97,873 | $ | 93,957 | ||||
| Restaurant contribution margin (%) | 15.0 | % | 10.3 | % | ||||
Source: El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc.