CEO Transition for Brinker - Analyst Blog
November 20 2012 - 11:10AM
Zacks
Doug Brooks, the Chief Executive
Officer (CEO) and President of Brinker International, Inc.
(EAT) recently announced his intention to
step down from the post effective December 31, 2012. Concurrently,
the company also announced Wyman Roberts as his successor, who will
take over the reins effectively from January 1, 2013.
Doug Brooks joined Brinker 35 years
ago as a manager. His tenure oversaw the increase from a modest
three restaurants in one state to 1,585 restaurants globally,
generating around $2.8 billion of revenue annually. To ensure a
successful transition of leadership to Roberts, Brooks will
continue to serve as chairman of the board of the company through
December 2013.
Wyman Roberts has been associated
with Brinker since August 2005. Currently, he is the President of
Brinker’s brand Chili's Grill & Bar. However, he will retain
this position along with the new responsibilities. He has
previously served Brinker as Chief Marketing Officer and President
of Maggiano's Little Italy brand.
Prior to joining Brinker, Roberts served NBC’s Universal Parks
& Resorts – a subsidiary of General Electric Company
(GE) and Comcast Corporation
(CMCSK), as Executive VP and CMO and
contributed to growth of the company’s market share and revenues.
Apart from this, he has held several senior level positions over 17
years at Brinker’s peer company – Darden Restaurants Inc.
(DRI).
With his vast know-how and expertise over 20 years in the
restaurant industry, Roberts can easily be tagged as a veteran in
this sector. With proven strategy development, operation,
finance and brand building background, we expect him to provide
meaningful support to Brinker. Roberts' contribution to growth of
Chili's Grill & Bar has been noteworthy. Total sales at Chili's
Grill & Bar restaurant surged 2.7% year over year in the most
recent quarter and comparable restaurant sales at the brand climbed
up 2.8% for the sixth consecutive quarter.
As a point of reference, several restaurant peers of Brinker have
recently seen significant management changes. The founder and CEO
of Ruby Tuesday Inc. (RT), Sandy
Beall, announced his intention to bow out from management and the
Board. In addition, Jack in the Box Inc.
(JACK) also announced the retirement of
President and CEO, Gary J. Beisler, of one of its subsidiaries.
Brinker recently reported first-quarter 2013 adjusted earnings of
37 cents per share, lagging the Zacks Consensus Estimate by a
penny, but increasing 23.3% from the year-ago quarter earnings of
30 cents per share. At the end of the quarter, Brinker operated
1,585 restaurants, of which 1,274 were Chili’s, 44 were Maggiano's
and 267 were international franchised restaurants.
We currently have long-term ‘Outperform’ recommendation on Brinker.
It carries a short-term Zacks #3 Rank (Hold).
COMCAST CLA SPL (CMCSK): Free Stock Analysis Report
DARDEN RESTRNT (DRI): Free Stock Analysis Report
BRINKER INTL (EAT): Free Stock Analysis Report
GENL ELECTRIC (GE): Free Stock Analysis Report
JACK IN THE BOX (JACK): Free Stock Analysis Report
RUBY TUESDAY (RT): Free Stock Analysis Report
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