Papa John’s: Reports Continued Strong August Sales

Louisville / KY. (pj) Papa John’s International Inc., one of the world’s largest pizza delivery companies, provided preliminary estimated comparable sales information for the August fiscal period. In light of the uncertainty and volatility related to the pandemic, the company has continued to provide this information on a monthly basis.

President and CEO Rob Lynch said, «Papa John’s sales, driven by product innovation, remained strong in August. As we have added new customers throughout 2020, our customer satisfaction and brand affinity scores also continue rising. Our international business gained further momentum in August too and continues to improve as more countries across the globe open back up for business.»

Preliminary Estimated Comparable Sales for August 2020 Fiscal Period

Preliminary estimated comparable sales information for the second month of the third quarter of 2020 (Period 8 of the company’s fiscal year), relative to the same period in the prior year are as follows:

Period 8 – August 2020	2020-07-27 to 2020-08-23
Comparable sales growth (a)
Domestic company-owned restaurants	18.0%
North America franchised restaurants	26.1%
System-wide North America restaurants	24.2%
System-wide international restaurants (b)	23.3%

(a)Represents the change in year-over-year sales for the same base of restaurants for the same fiscal period. Comparable sales results for restaurants operating outside of the United States are reported on a constant-Dollar basis, which excludes the impact of foreign currency translation.
(b)Includes the impact of approximately 150 temporarily closed stores as of August 23, 2020, principally in Latin America and Europe. Excluding those stores, comparable sales growth for system-wide international restaurants would have been approximately 25 percent in Period 8.

Update on Temporary Restaurant Closures as a Result of Covid-19

Of the company’s approximately 2,100 international franchised stores, the number temporarily closed has declined to approximately 150, primarily in Latin America and Europe, in accordance with government policies. In North America, almost all traditional restaurants remain open and fully operational. A number of non-traditional restaurants located in universities and stadiums are temporarily closed; these non-traditional locations are not material to the company’s revenues and operating results.

About Comparable Sales

The Company believes North America and international comparable sales growth information, as defined in the table above, is useful in analyzing its results since franchisees pay royalties and marketing fund contributions that are based on a percentage of franchise sales. Franchise sales also generate commissary revenue in the United States and in certain international markets. Franchise restaurant and comparable sales growth information is also useful for comparison to industry trends and evaluating the strength of our brand. Management believes the presentation of franchise restaurant sales growth, excluding the impact of foreign currency, provides investors with useful information regarding underlying sales trends and the impact of new unit growth without being impacted by swings in the external factor of foreign currency. Franchise restaurant sales are not included in the company’s revenues.