News Details

System-wide Comparable Restaurant Sales Increased 3.3%
Reaffirms Annual Guidance on an Adjusted Basis
Increases Repurchase Program by $25 million to $75 Million

LAKE FOREST, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Del Taco Restaurants, Inc. (“Del Taco” or the “Company”), (NASDAQ: TACO), the second largest Mexican-American quick service restaurant chain by units in the United States, today reported fiscal second quarter 2018 financial results. Additionally, the Company reaffirmed guidance for fiscal year 2018 on an adjusted basis and announced a $25 million increase in its repurchase program for common stock and warrants to $75 million.

Fiscal Second Quarter 2018 Highlights

• System-wide comparable restaurant sales grew 3.3%, marking the 19th consecutive quarter of gains;
  • Company-operated comparable restaurant sales grew 2.5%, marking the 24th consecutive quarter of gains. Company-operated comparable restaurant sales growth was comprised of average check growth of 3.7%, including approximately 1% of menu mix growth, offset by a transaction decrease of 1.2%;
  • Franchised comparable restaurant sales grew 4.2%;
• Total revenue increased 8.5% to $117.8 million (including $3.1 million of franchise advertising contributions and $0.2 million of other franchise revenue required as part of the new revenue recognition rules adopted in the first fiscal quarter whereby the offsetting impact is an increase to expenses such that there is no impact on operating income and net income) compared to $108.6 million in the fiscal second quarter 2017;
• Company restaurant sales increased 5.6% to $109.8 million compared to $104.0 million in the fiscal second quarter 2017;
• Net income was $4.2 million, or $0.11 per diluted share, compared to $5.3 million in the fiscal second quarter 2017, or $0.13 per diluted share;
• Adjusted net income* was $5.4 million, or $0.14 per diluted share, compared to $5.3 million in the fiscal second quarter 2017, or $0.13 per diluted share;
• Restaurant contribution* margin was 19.7% compared to 20.3% in the fiscal second quarter 2017; and
• Adjusted EBITDA* was $16.8 million compared to $17.0 million in the fiscal second quarter 2017.

Adjusted net income*, Restaurant contribution*, and Adjusted EBITDA* are non-GAAP measures and defined below under “Key Financial Definitions”. Please see the reconciliation of non-GAAP measures accompanying this release.

John D. Cappasola, Jr., President and Chief Executive Officer of Del Taco, commented, “During the quarter we were proud to achieve our company average unit volume (AUV) goal of $1.5 million on a trailing 12 month basis, that we set following our entrance to the public markets several years ago. Since fiscal 2013 our company and franchise AUV’s have each grown by more than 25%, helping us achieve enhanced unit economics that are driving company and franchise growth opportunities.”

Cappasola continued, “Our second quarter was in line with our expectations and we remain on track to achieve our annual guidance on an adjusted basis. We are particularly pleased with our system-wide comparable restaurant sales growth of 3.3%, or 10.4% on a two-year basis, and our restaurant contribution margin performance, which improved sequentially in the quarter, contracting only 10 basis points after adjusting for the timing of advertising expenses.

Cappasola concluded, “Early in the third quarter we launched Elevated Combined Solutions which includes brand catalysts and operational improvements designed to further our mission to be the category leader in the value oriented QSR+ segment. This latest iteration of our pivotal brand strategy includes a new concept tagline – Fresh Mexican Grill, a new holistic advertising campaign ‘Celebrating the Hardest Working Hands in Fast Food’, reimagined packaging, enhanced hospitality initiatives, newly designed menu boards, new kitchen equipment and updated crew uniforms. Early guest feedback on these enhancements has been positive.”

Review of Fiscal Second Quarter 2018 Financial Results

Total revenue increased 8.5% to $117.8 million (including $3.1 million of franchise advertising contributions and $0.2 million of other franchise revenue required as part of the new revenue recognition rules adopted in the first fiscal quarter whereby the offsetting impact is an increase to expenses such that there is no impact on operating income and net income) compared to $108.6 million in the fiscal second quarter 2017. Excluding these revenue recognition impacts total revenue increased 5.4%.

Comparable restaurant sales increased 3.3% system-wide, resulting in a 10.4% increase on a two-year basis. The Del Taco system has now generated comparable restaurant sales growth for 19 consecutive quarters. Company-operated comparable restaurant sales increased 2.5%, marking 24 consecutive quarters of comparable restaurant sales growth. Franchise comparable restaurant sales increased 4.2%.

Net income was $4.2 million, representing $0.11 per diluted share, compared to $5.3 million in the fiscal second quarter 2017, representing $0.13 per diluted share.

Adjusted net income* was $5.4 million, or $0.14 per diluted share, compared to $5.3 million in the fiscal second quarter 2017, or $0.13 per diluted share. Adjusted net income excludes the impairment of long-lived assets charge totaling approximately $1.7 million, or approximately $1.2 million after the related tax impact, representing $0.04 per diluted share, or $0.03 per diluted share after the related tax impact.

Restaurant contribution* was $21.7 million compared to $21.1 million in the fiscal second quarter 2017. As a percentage of Company restaurant sales, restaurant contribution margin decreased approximately 60 basis points year-over-year to 19.7%. The decrease was the result of an approximate 40 basis point increase in labor and related expenses and an approximate 50 basis point increase in occupancy and other operating expenses, which was all related to the timing of advertising expenses. These increases were partially offset by a 30 basis point decrease in food and paper costs.

Adjusted EBITDA* was $16.8 million compared to $17.0 million in the fiscal second quarter 2017.

Restaurant Portfolio

During the fiscal second quarter 2018, we opened one company-operated restaurant and one franchised restaurant, and closed one company-operated restaurant and one franchised restaurant.

Thus far in the fiscal third quarter 2018, our franchise partners have opened one restaurant and there are currently 16 restaurants (eight franchised and eight company) under construction, all of which are expected to open this fiscal year. The remaining restaurants expected to open in fiscal year 2018 are expected to commence construction within the next two months.

Repurchase Program for Common Stock and Warrants

On July 23, 2018, the Board of Directors increased the repurchase program for Del Taco’s common stock and warrants to $75 million (raised from $50 million). The increased authorization will expire upon completion of the repurchase program unless terminated earlier by the Board of Directors.

During the fiscal second quarter 2018, we repurchased 407,821 shares of common stock at average price of $11.57 per share for a total of $4.7 million, and repurchased 11,132 warrants at an average price per warrant of $2.68.

There are currently 38,299,842 common shares and 5,978,991 warrants outstanding and approximately $41.2 million remains under the $75 million authorization.

Fiscal Year 2018 Guidance

We are reiterating the following guidance for fiscal year 2018, the 52-week period ending January 1, 2019:

• System-wide same store sales growth of approximately 2% to 4%;
• Total revenue between $506 million and $516 million, reflecting the new revenue recognition rules whereby franchise advertising contributions and other franchise revenue, which totaled $12.7 million and $0.8 million in fiscal year 2017, respectively, will now be reported on a gross basis. This guidance also includes an estimated $0.5 million unfavorable impact from the timing of initial franchise fees and renewal fees which must be deferred and recognized over the term of the related franchise agreement;
• Total company-operated restaurant sales between $473 million and $483 million;
• Restaurant contribution margin between 19.3% and 19.8%;
• General and administrative expenses between approximately 8.2% and 8.5% of total revenue, including the expense side of the other franchise revenue that will now be reported on a gross basis;
• Effective tax rate of approximately 26.5% to 27.5%;
• Adjusted diluted earnings per share of approximately $0.59 to $0.63;
• Adjusted EBITDA between $71.5 million and $74.0 million;
• 25 to 28 new system-wide restaurant openings; and
• Net capital expenditures between $35.0 million to $38.0 million.

We have not reconciled guidance for Adjusted diluted earnings per share and Adjusted EBITDA to the corresponding GAAP financial measure because we do not provide guidance for the various reconciling items. We are unable to provide guidance for these reconciling items because we cannot determine their probable significance, as certain items are outside of our control and cannot be reasonably predicted since these items could vary significantly from period to period. Accordingly, a reconciliation to the corresponding GAAP financial measure is not available without unreasonable effort.

Conference Call

A conference call and webcast to discuss Del Taco’s financial results and annual guidance is scheduled for 5:00 p.m. ET today. Hosting the conference call and webcast will be John D. Cappasola, Jr., President and Chief Executive Officer; and Steven L. Brake, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer.

Interested parties may listen to the conference call via telephone by dialing 631-891-4304. A telephone replay will be available shortly after the call has concluded and can be accessed by dialing 412-317-6671, the passcode is 10005217.

The webcast will be available at www.deltaco.com under the investors section and will be archived on the site shortly after the call has concluded.

Key Financial Definitions

Comparable restaurant sales growth reflects the change in year-over-year sales for the comparable company, franchise and total system restaurant base. Restaurants are included in the comparable store base in the accounting period following its 18^th full month of operations and excludes restaurant closures.

Restaurant contribution* is defined as company restaurant sales less restaurant operating expenses, which are food and paper costs, labor and related expenses and occupancy and other operating expenses. Restaurant contribution margin is defined as restaurant contribution as a percentage of company restaurant sales. Restaurant contribution and restaurant contribution marginare neither required by, nor presented in accordance with, GAAP. Restaurant contribution and restaurant contribution margin are supplemental measures of operating performance of restaurants and the calculations thereof may not be comparable to those reported by other companies. Restaurant contribution and restaurant contribution margin have limitations as analytical tools, and you should not consider them in isolation or as substitutes for analysis of results as reported under U.S. GAAP. Management believes that restaurant contribution and restaurant contribution margin are important tools for investors because they are widely-used metrics within the restaurant industry to evaluate restaurant-level productivity, efficiency and performance. Management uses restaurant contribution and restaurant contribution margin as key performance indicators to evaluate the profitability of incremental sales at Del Taco restaurants, to evaluate restaurant performance across periods and to evaluate restaurant financial performance compared with competitors.

Adjusted EBITDA* is defined as net income/loss prior to interest expense, income taxes, and depreciation and amortization, as adjusted to add back certain charges, such as stock-based compensation expense and transaction-related costs, as these expenses are not considered an indicator of ongoing company performance. Adjusted EBITDA is a non-GAAP financial measure and should not be considered as an alternative to operating income or net income/loss as a measure of operating performance or cash flows or as measures of liquidity. Non-GAAP financial measures are not necessarily calculated the same way by different companies and should not be considered a substitute for or superior to GAAP results. We believe Adjusted EBITDA facilitates operating performance comparisons from period to period by isolating the effects of some items that vary from period to period without any correlation to core operating performance or that vary widely among similar companies. These potential differences may be caused by variations in capital structures (affecting interest expense), tax positions (such as the impact on periods or changes in effective tax rates or net operating losses) and the age and book depreciation of facilities and equipment (affecting relative depreciation expense). We also present Adjusted EBITDA because (i) we believe this measure is frequently used by securities analysts, investors and other interested parties to evaluate companies in our industry and (ii) we use Adjusted EBITDA internally as a benchmark to compare performance to that of competitors.

Adjusted net income* represents company net income before impairment of long-lived assets, net of tax. Adjusted diluted net income per share represents company diluted net income per share before impairment of long-lived assets, net of tax.

About Del Taco Restaurants, Inc.

Del Taco (NASDAQ: TACO) offers a unique variety of both Mexican and American favorites such as burritos and fries, prepared fresh in every restaurant's working kitchen with the value and convenience of a drive-thru. Del Taco's menu items taste better because they are made with quality ingredients like fresh grilled chicken and carne asada steak, hand-sliced avocado, hand-grated cheddar cheese, slow-cooked beans made from scratch, and creamy Queso Blanco. Del Taco’s new advertising campaign, “Celebrating the Hardest Working Hands in Fast Food,” further communicates the company’s commitment to providing guests with fresh, quality food prepared by hand every day. Founded in 1964, today Del Taco serves more than three million guests each week at its more than 560 restaurants across 14 states. For more information, visit www.deltaco.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

In addition to historical information, this release may contain a number of “forward-looking statements” as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements include, without limitation, information concerning Del Taco’s possible or assumed future results of operations, business strategies, competitive position, industry environment, potential growth opportunities and the effects of regulation. These statements are based on Del Taco’s management’s current expectations and beliefs, as well as a number of assumptions concerning future events. When used in this press release, the words “estimates,” “projected,” “expects,” “anticipates,” “forecasts,” “plans,” “intends,” “believes,” “seeks,” “target,” “may,” “will,” “should,” “future,” “propose,” “preliminary,” “guidance,” “on track” and variations of these words or similar expressions (or the negative versions of such words or expressions) are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other important factors, many of which are outside Del Taco’s management’s control that could cause actual results to differ materially from the results discussed in the forward-looking statements. These risks included, without limitation, consumer demand, our inability to successfully open company-operated or franchised restaurants or establish new markets, competition in our markets, our inability to grow and manage growth profitably, adverse changes in food and supply costs, our inability to access additional capital, changes in applicable laws or regulations, food safety and foodborne illness concerns, our inability to manage existing and to obtain additional franchisees, our inability to attract and retain qualified personnel, our inability to profitably expand into new markets, changes in, or the discontinuation of, the Company’s repurchase program, and the possibility that we may be adversely affected by other economic, business, and/or competitive factors. Additional risks and uncertainties are identified and discussed in Del Taco’s reports filed with the SEC, including under Item 1A. Risk Factors in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended January 2, 2018, and available at the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov and the Company’s website at www.deltaco.com.

Forward-looking statements included in this release speak only as of the date of this release. Del Taco undertakes no obligation to update its forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this release or otherwise.

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For Del Taco Restaurants, Inc.
Media:
Julia Young, 646-277-1280
julia.young@icrinc.com
or
Investor Relations:
Raphael Gross, 203-682-8253
investor@deltaco.com

Source: Del Taco Restaurants, Inc.