Red Robin: Provides Additional Covid-19 Update

Greenwood Village / CO. (rrgb) Red Robin Gourmet Burgers Inc., a full-service restaurant chain serving an innovative selection of high-quality gourmet burgers in a family-friendly atmosphere, provided an update on its sales performance during the first quarter of 2020 and an operational update on additional measures the Company is taking in response to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.

Paul J.B. Murphy III, Red Robin’s President and Chief Executive Officer, said, «We continue to be focused on protecting the health and safety of our Team Members and Guests, and are taking additional actions to preserve liquidity, reduce costs, and better position Red Robin for the long term. These include both short- and longer-term initiatives that will enable the Company to more effectively benefit from an eventual recovery in on-premise sales as the impact of Covid-19 subsides. At the same time, we continue to be encouraged by the strong growth in our off-premise sales, which is helping to reduce the impact of the temporary closures on the dine-in business.»

Business Update

Comparable restaurant revenues and average off-premise restaurant revenues per restaurant following the onset of the Covid-19 crisis in the United States and through the week ended April 12, 2020 are as follows:

		QTD		Week ended …
		through 20200223		20200301		20200308		20200315		20200322		20200329		20200405		20200412
Weekly Net Comparable Restaurant Revenues		3.4%		0.9%		-3.7%		-26.3%		-72.7%		-70.5%		-63.9%		-65.2%
Average Off-Premise Sales per Restaurant		USD 7,674		USD 8,264		USD 7,963		USD 7,534		USD 13,172		USD 18,259		USD 20,782		USD 19,033

[*] Note: The week ended April 12 included the Easter holiday weekend which was one week earlier than the prior year.

The Company is currently in the last week of its fiscal first quarter, which ends on April 19, 2020, and will provide a detailed financial update in conjunction with its first quarter 2020 earnings results.

Operational Update

Red Robin is continuing to strictly adhere to health and safety protocols recommended by the CDC and state and local health departments to ensure the well-being of its Team Members, Guests and business partners. The Company is taking the following additional actions to preserve liquidity, reduce costs, and strengthen its organizational structure:

• Temporarily closing 35 Company-operated restaurants, the majority of which are mall-based locations, as of local closing times today. In connection with this, restaurant managers and Team Members have been either furloughed or transferred to nearby restaurants where possible;
• Temporarily reducing pay by approximately twenty percent for all non-furloughed restaurant support center and restaurant supervisory Team Members, effective as of April 20, 2020;
• Eliminating approximately 50 restaurant support center G+A positions, effective as of April 17, 2020; and
• Engaging in constructive discussions with landlords regarding the potential restructuring of lease payments. These discussions are currently ongoing.

Murphy added, «I’d like to thank all of our Team Members that have been working tirelessly to optimize our off-premise execution, grow our to-go, delivery, and catering channels, and deliver on the Red Robin brand promise to our communities. For all those Team Members affected by the changes announced today, I sincerely thank you for all your contributions to Red Robin and commitment to serving our Guests.»