Cracker Barrel Old Country Store saw its revenue and net income increase in the fourth quarter of FY23, on the back of higher restaurant sales.
The restaurant and retail chain’s revenue grew minimally by 1 per cent to $836.7 million in the three months to July 28 from the year-ago period. The company said its restaurant chain sales rose 2.4 percent, which includes total menu pricing increase of 8.7 per cent, while its retail sales declined 6.8 per cent.
Quarterly net income inched 12 per cent higher to $37.5 million, representing 4.5 per cent of revenue. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) totaled $72.1 million, up 15.5 per cent.
“Although there was much to celebrate in fiscal 2023, our Q4 topline performance fell short of our expectations,” Sandra B Cochran, president and CEO at Cracker Barrel, said.
“We have taken and will continue to take numerous actions to improve our traffic performance on the marketing and operational front which we believe will be effective, particularly as we enter our important holiday season. We will also launch our much-anticipated loyalty program, Cracker Barrel Rewards, in the next few weeks.”
For FY23, the company saw revenue rose 5 per cent to $3.44 billion. Adjusted EBITDA declined 5.3 per cent to $254.9 million while net income plunged 25 per cent to $99.1 million.
“Despite our recent traffic challenges, we remain confident that our continued focus on our strategic priorities, including delivering an exceptional guest experience, emphasizing and protecting our strong value proposition, accelerating frequency among key growth segments, and enhancing our business model will improve performance in the near term and deliver value creation over the long term,” Cochran said.
Cracker Barrel forecasts revenue of $800 million to $850 million and operating income margin of 2.25 per cent to 3.25 per cent for the first quarter of FY24. The company also aims to open one to two new Cracker Barrel stores and four to five new Maple Street Biscuit Company units in the quarter.
Fourth-quarter capital expenditure is estimated at $27 million to $32 million.
