Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. (Nasdaq: BLMN) today announced additional
information resulting from the dynamic environment caused by
COVID-19. As a result, we are providing a general business update
from our CEO, recent and First Quarter 2020 preliminary sales
results and details on cash utilization and liquidity.
Statement from David Deno, Chief Executive Officer
This past month has been an extraordinary time to lead and
operate restaurants. Our priorities have centered on taking care of
our people and serving food in a safe environment that protects
both our Team Members and customers.
We have always taken great pride in taking care of the over
90,000 employees who work in our restaurants, and those who support
them at the Restaurant Support Center. We have not terminated or
furloughed any employees as a result of COVID-19. For hourly
employees impacted by the closure of our dining rooms, we have
provided four weeks of relief pay to date and free meals for
pick-up. We hope to be able to continue providing these benefits
and will reassess our ability to do so every two weeks. In
addition, I have suspended my salary, and the Board of Directors
has suspended their cash retainers.
Since this situation began in early March, any employee who was
quarantined or who had a personal illness related to COVID-19
received pay. In addition, every employee has free access to our
Employee Assistance Program for additional support during these
stressful times, and we have funded 100% of benefit premiums for
employees not working and receiving relief pay.
While our restaurant operators are accustomed to safe food
handling and hygiene practices, which includes only allowing
healthy employees to work, we have heightened those existing strict
standards. We have made changes to offer further protection for
customers and employees, including additional sanitation and
disinfecting practices, enhanced hand-washing protocols and
increased use of gloves and facial protection.
As it relates to the current business environment, we have grown
our sales each week since we pivoted to an off-premises only model
on March 20th. We have nearly tripled our total off-premises
business since the beginning of March. This is a testament to the
strong affinity for our brands, and our decision to invest
significantly into building a robust delivery network to complement
our take-out business. These strong off-premises results have
allowed us to keep substantially all of our locations open during
this time.
Consistent with our approach in other areas, we are prioritizing
cash usage towards supporting our people and maximizing our
off-premises business. We have stopped non-essential spending,
significantly reduced marketing expenses and have deferred nearly
all of our capital expenditures. These efforts have allowed us to
minimize our ongoing cash burn, and we are confident about our
ability to navigate the current environment. In addition, we are
reviewing opportunities to increase our liquidity should we
determine that it would be in our best interest to do so.
Although this situation is challenging, we are looking forward
to emerging as a better, stronger, operations-focused company. I am
more convinced than ever of the important role that full-service
restaurants will continue to play in the lives of our customers and
our communities. We look forward to providing another update when
we announce our first quarter earnings on May 8th.
Recent Sales Results
The following table includes estimated comparable restaurant
sales by concept for our U.S. company-owned restaurants for the
periods indicated:
WEEK ENDED
MARCH 1, 2020
MARCH 8, 2020
MARCH 15, 2020
MARCH 22, 2020
MARCH 29, 2020
APRIL 5, 2020
APRIL 12, 2020 (1)
Comparable restaurant sales (stores open
18 months or more):
U.S.
Outback Steakhouse
0.4
%
0.5
%
(18.0
)%
(63.7
)%
(63.5
)%
(60.6
)%
(52.2
)%
Carrabba’s Italian Grill
6.5
%
0.7
%
(16.2
)%
(67.5
)%
(68.7
)%
(64.7
)%
(53.0
)%
Bonefish Grill
5.0
%
(4.5
)%
(23.4
)%
(83.4
)%
(82.7
)%
(79.2
)%
(68.2
)%
Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse & Wine
Bar
(1.9
)%
(7.0
)%
(23.2
)%
(82.3
)%
(85.6
)%
(82.7
)%
(63.9
)%
Combined U.S.
1.9
%
(0.9
)%
(19.0
)%
(69.1
)%
(69.5
)%
(66.1
)%
(55.9
)%
_________________(1) The week ended April 12, 2020 includes the
benefit of the Easter holiday.
The following table includes estimated average off-premises
weekly sales per comparable restaurant for our U.S. company-owned
restaurants for the periods indicated:
WEEK ENDED
MARCH 1, 2020
MARCH 8, 2020
MARCH 15, 2020
MARCH 22, 2020
MARCH 29, 2020
APRIL 5, 2020
APRIL 12, 2020 (1)
Average off-premises weekly sales per
restaurant (stores open 18 months or more):
U.S.
Outback Steakhouse
$12,674
$12,628
$12,983
$21,781
$27,013
$28,211
$33,161
Carrabba’s Italian Grill
$11,877
$12,099
$12,291
$15,151
$18,821
$19,457
$25,377
Bonefish Grill
$3,453
$3,579
$4,422
$6,348
$11,313
$12,463
$18,696
Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse & Wine
Bar
NM
NM
NM
$9,261
$12,664
$13,781
$28,077
_________________NM Not meaningful.(1) The week ended April 12,
2020 includes the benefit of the Easter holiday.
First Quarter Preliminary Comparable
Restaurant Sales
EIGHT
WEEKS ENDED
FIVE
WEEKS ENDED
THIRTEEN
WEEKS ENDED
FEBRUARY 23, 2020
MARCH 29, 2020
MARCH 29, 2020
Comparable restaurant sales (stores open
18 months or more):
U.S.
Outback Steakhouse
2.2
%
(28.1
)%
(9.5
)%
Carrabba’s Italian Grill
4.5
%
(29.9
)%
(8.7
)%
Bonefish Grill
2.0
%
(38.6
)%
(13.9
)%
Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse & Wine
Bar
2.4
%
(40.0
)%
(13.2
)%
Combined U.S.
2.6
%
(31.0
)%
(10.4
)%
International
Outback Steakhouse - Brazil (1)
NM
NM
6.8
%
_________________NM Not meaningful.(1) Brazil comparable restaurant
sales are on a one-month lag and are presented on a calendar basis.
Represents results throughFebruary 29, 2020. Brazil’s First Quarter
comparable restaurant sales do not include any material impact from
the COVID-19 pandemic.Most of our Brazil restaurants are currently
open for off-premises only.
Cash Utilization and Liquidity
Update
As of Wednesday, April 15, we had approximately $304 million of
cash on hand in our domestic bank accounts. At recent sales levels,
we expect our ongoing weekly cash burn rate to be approximately $8
million to $10 million, excluding any additional changes to net
working capital. Outsized cash usage over the most recent four
weeks has been primarily related to the wind down of net working
capital.
Our assumptions on weekly burn rate include:
- Tight control on all expenditures, including marketing and
rent
- Ongoing relief payments and benefits to hourly workers impacted
by the closure of our dining rooms
- We evaluate relief payments and the appropriate level of rent
payments every two weeks
- Only capital expenditures related to maintenance that supports
our off-premises business
Conference Call
We will release results for the fiscal first quarter ended March
29, 2020, on Friday, May 8, 2020 at approximately 7:00 AM EST,
which will be followed by a conference call to review our financial
results at 8:30 AM EST the same day. The call will be webcast live
from the Company’s website at http://www.bloominbrands.com under the Investors
section. A replay of this webcast will be available on the
Company’s website after the call.
About Bloomin’ Brands,
Inc.
Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. is one of the largest casual dining
restaurant companies in the world with a portfolio of leading,
differentiated restaurant concepts. The Company has four
founder-inspired brands: Outback Steakhouse, Carrabba’s Italian
Grill, Bonefish Grill and Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse & Wine
Bar. The Company operates more than 1,450 restaurants in 48 states,
Puerto Rico, Guam and 20 countries, some of which are franchise
locations. For more information, please visit
www.bloominbrands.com.
Preliminary Data
The unaudited sales data presented in this release is
preliminary, based upon management estimates and subject to the
completion of our procedures for the preparation and completion of
our quarterly financial statements. Those procedures have not been
completed, and we may make further adjustments as a result of
developments occurring between now and the time the financial
results for the respective periods are finalized. In addition,
estimated weekly sales and cash burn data has been provided to help
investors understand and assess the near-term impacts of the
COVID-19 pandemic, but is subject to variability and may not be
indicative of our results or trends for any full reporting
period.
Forward-Looking
Statements
Certain statements contained herein, including statements under
the headings “Statement from David Deno, Chief Executive Officer”
and “Cash Utilization and Liquidity Update” are not based on
historical fact and are “forward-looking statements” within the
meaning of applicable securities laws. Generally, these statements
can be identified by the use of words such as “guidance,”
“believes,” “estimates,” “anticipates,” “expects,” “on track,”
“feels,” “forecasts,” “seeks,” “projects,” “intends,” “plans,”
“may,” “will,” “should,” “could,” “would” and similar expressions
intended to identify forward-looking statements, although not all
forward-looking statements contain these identifying words. These
forward-looking statements include all matters that are not
historical facts. By their nature, forward-looking statements
involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to
differ materially from the Company’s forward-looking statements.
These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to: the
effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and uncertainties about its depth
and duration, as well as the impacts to economic conditions and
consumer behavior, including, among others: the inability of
workers, including delivery drivers, to work due to illness,
quarantine, or government mandates, temporary restaurant closures
due to reduced workforces or government mandates, the unemployment
rate, the extent, availability and effectiveness of any COVID-19
stimulus packages or loan programs, the ability of our franchisees
to operate their restaurants during the pandemic and pay royalties,
and trends in consumer behavior and spending during and after the
end of the pandemic; the outcome of our review of strategic
alternatives, including the impact on our ongoing business, our
stock price and our ability to successfully implement any
alternatives that we pursue including our ability to achieve the
cost savings described in this release; consumer reaction to public
health and food safety issues; competition; increases in labor
costs; government actions and policies; increases in unemployment
rates and taxes; local, regional, national and international
economic conditions; consumer confidence and spending patterns;
price and availability of commodities; the effects of changes in
tax laws; challenges associated with our remodeling, relocation and
expansion plans; interruption or breach of our systems or loss of
consumer or employee information; political, social and legal
conditions in international markets and their effects on foreign
operations and foreign currency exchange rates; our ability to
preserve the value of and grow our brands; the seasonality of the
Company’s business; weather, acts of God and other disasters;
changes in patterns of consumer traffic, consumer tastes and
dietary habits; the cost and availability of credit; interest rate
changes; and compliance with debt covenants and the Company’s
ability to make debt payments and planned investments. Further
information on potential factors that could affect the financial
results of the Company and its forward-looking statements is
included in its most recent Form 10-K and subsequent filings with
the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Company assumes no
obligation to update any forward-looking statement, except as may
be required by law. These forward-looking statements speak only as
of the date of this release. All forward-looking statements are
qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement.
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200416005193/en/
Mark Graff Group Vice President, IR & Finance (813)
830-5311
Bloomin Brands (NASDAQ:BLMN)
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