Panera Bread: announces Q4 and FY 2008 earnings

St. Louis / MO. (pbc) Panera Bread Company reported net income of 26 million USD or 0,84 USD per diluted share for the fourth quarter ended December 30, 2008; including 0,03 USD per diluted share of charges. These charges include a 0,01 USD net charge for a write-off of the company´s investment in the Columbia Strategic Cash Portfolio, a 0,01 USD charge for the write-off of assets associated with the roll-out of the company´s new coffee program and a 0,01 USD charge for reserves associated with legal settlements. These results compare to net income of 18 million USD or 0,56 USD per diluted share for the fourth quarter ended December 25, 2007. Highlights:

• Q4 2008 operating profit up 35 percent over Q4/2007 on revenue growth of 19 percent.
• Q4 2008 system-wide comparable bakery-cafe sales up 2,7 percent.
• FY 2008 EPS growth of 24 percent versus fiscal 2007.
• FY 2009 EPS target re-affirmed at 2,55 USD to 2,71 USD (up 15 percent to 22 percent versus 2008).
• Q1 2009 EPS target set at 0,53 USD to 0,59 USD (up 29 percent to 44 percent versus Q1 2008).

For the fiscal year ended December 30, 2008, net income was 67 million USD, or 2,22 USD per diluted share. These results compare to net income of 57 million USD, or 1,79 USD per diluted share, for the fiscal year ended December 25, 2007, representing a 24 percent year-on-year growth rate.

Of note, the company´s results for the fourth quarter and full year 2008 were comprised of 14 and 53 weeks, respectively, compared to a 13 week fourth quarter and 52 week fiscal year in 2007. The following tables set forth, for the periods indicated, certain items included in the company´s consolidated statements of operations (in thousands, except per share data and percentages):

	For the 14 weeks	For the 13 weeks
	ended	ended	Percentage
	December 30, 2008	December 25, 2007	Change
Total revenue	USD 357’812	USD 300’843	19%
Operating profit	USD 41’668	USD 30’849	35%
Net income	USD 25’549	USD 17’834	43%
Diluted earnings per share	USD 0,84	USD 0,56	50%
Shares used in diluted EPS	30,576	32,098
	FY ended	FY ended	Percentage
	December 30, 2008	December 25, 2007	Change
Total revenue	USD 1’298’853	USD 1’066’691	22%
Operating profit	USD 112’706	USD 89’278	26%
Net income	USD 67’436	USD 57’456	17%
Diluted earnings per share	USD 2,22	USD 1,79	24%
Shares used in diluted EPS	30,422	32,178

New Unit AWS and Development

In the fourth quarter of 2008, average weekly sales (AWS) for Company-owned new units improved to 36’943 USD compared to 34’777 USD in the fourth quarter of 2007. Along with its improved margins, the Company´s improvement in new unit AWS drove improvement in its overall return on invested capital. During the fourth quarter of 2008, the Company opened 32 new bakery-cafes system-wide, resulting in 1’325 bakery-cafes open system-wide as of December 30, 2008. The breakdown of bakery-cafes between Company-owned and franchise-operated is as follows:

	Company-owned	Franchise-operated	Total System
Bakery-cafes as of 2008-09-23	555	739	1’294
Bakery-cafes opened	08	24	32
Bakery-cafe closed	(01)	—	(01)
Bakery-cafes as of 2008-12-30	562	763	1’325

Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Ron Shaich: «Panera was the best performing restaurant stock in 2008. More importantly, it was also the best performing restaurant stock (over 250 million USD market capitalization) over the last decade (for the ten years ending December 31, 2008). Our focus on driving margins while growing sales and strengthening return on incremental invested capital, all while increasing long-term concept differentiation, has continued to deliver results. With Panera´s concept resonating strongly with guests and with a debt-free balance sheet, we believe Panera will come out of the recession with even greater competitive advantage. In sum, we believe Panera is well-positioned to continue its record of success well into the next decade».

Info: The complete statement «Panera Bread Reports Q4 EPS of 0,84 USD, up 50 percent over Q4/2007» (PDF | 10 pages | 64 KB) is available on Panera´s web server.