Carrols Restaurant Group, Inc. reaffirms yearly guidance
At a Monday afternoon Wachovia investor conference, executives of Carrols Restaurant Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: TAST) reaffirmed the restaurant operator’s guidance for the fiscal year 2007 ending Dec. 31. Carrols expects between $1.84 million and $1.92 million in net income in 2007, which would be a 15% to 20% boost compared with 2006.
“The rate of population growth in Florida and Texas is extraordinary and it’s growth of the kinds of people that eat in our restaurants,” CEO Alan Vituli said at the conference. “We’ve got huge growth opportunities.”
Carrols operates 76 Pollo Tropical restaurants, 143 Taco Cabana restaurants, and 328 Burger King restaurants under franchise agreements. The Polo Tropical restaurants operate in Florida and Taco Cabana in Texas. The average Polo Tropical restaurant generates $2.1 million in annual revenue; Taco Cabana, $1.6 million, Vituli said. The company has been Burger King’s largest franchisee for the last three decades.
Vituli said Carrols plans to open approximately 20 new locations this year, most of which will be Polo Tropical or Taco Cabana restaurants. The company’s operating margins should also improve because the Hispanic brands have higher margins than Burger King, he said. The Syracuse, N.Y.-based company’s comparable store sales should grow at a rate between 2% and 3%, CFO Paul Flanders said.
Vituli’s presentation, which included promotional video clips, left little time for analysts’ questions.
“That’s a way to keep the questions to a minimum,” one attendee could be heard saying at the program’s conclusion.
In today’s trading, shares of Carrols were down $0.33, or 2.10%, at $15.41. Over the last 52 weeks, the company’s shares have ranged in value from $12.34 to $16.25.
