- Ruth's Hospitality (NASDAQ:RUTH -2.9%) reports company-owned comparable restaurant sales rose 3.1% in Q1, consisted of 0.9% growth in traffic combined with an average check increase of 2.2%.
- Total restaurant sales increased 4.2% to $95.94M.
- Franchise income increased 11.9% to $4.5M.
- Average unit weekly company-owned sales grew 2.6% to $110.9K.
- Food and beverage costs as a percentage of restaurant sales for the company declined 87 bps to 29.6%, primarily driven by a 4.6% decline in total beef costs.
- Operating margin rate fell 52 bps to 16.1%.
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FY2016 Guidance: COGS: 29.5% to 31.5% of restaurant sales; Restaurant operating expenses: 47% to 49% of restaurant sales; Marketing and advertising costs: 2.9% to 3.1% of total revenues; G&A expenses: $29M to $31M; Effective tax rate: 32% to 34%; Capital expenditure: $28M to $30M; Diluted shares outstanding: 33M to 33.6M.