Darden Restaurants beats by $0.03, beats on revs; guides FY18 EPS in-line, revs above consensus and raises dividend 12.5% (90.08)
- Reports Q4 (May) earnings of $1.18 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.03 better than the Capital IQ Consensus of $1.15; revenues rose 8.1% year/year to $1.94 bln vs the $1.86 bln Capital IQ Consensus.
- Same-restaurant sales increased 3.3% for the quarter, excluding Cheddar's Scratch Kitchen
- +4.4% for Olive Garden +0.5% for The Capital Grille +0.1% for Yard House +3.5% for LongHorn Steakhouse +3.3% for Eddie V's -1.3% for Seasons 52 +1.4% for Bahama Breeze
- Co issues guidance for FY18, sees EPS of $4.38-4.50, excluding non-recurring items, vs. $4.42 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate; sees FY18 revs of +11.5-13.0% to ~$7.99-8.10 bln vs. $7.89 bln Capital IQ Consensus; comps +1-2%; 35-40 new restaurants.
- On June 26, 2017, the Board of Directors increased the quarterly dividend 12.5% to $0.63 per common share. The quarterly dividend is payable on August 1, 2017 to shareholders of record on July 10, 2017. The Company repurchased ~$15 million of its outstanding common stock