Denny's Corporation Reports Results for Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2023

SPARTANBURG, S.C., Feb. 13, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Denny’s Corporation (the "Company") (NASDAQ: DENN), owner and operator of Denny's Inc. ("Denny's") and Keke's Inc. ("Keke's") today reported results for its fourth quarter and full year ended December 27, 2023 and provided a business update on the Company’s operations.

Kelli Valade, Chief Executive Officer, stated, "We were pleased to close out 2023 with solid Denny’s domestic system-wide same-restaurant sales** of 1.3% in the fourth quarter, reflecting sequential improvement throughout the quarter, while also achieving results above the high-end of our previously guided range for the full year. We enter 2024 with growing momentum by focusing on our key strategic levers: a best-in-class breakfast with craveable items, an unbeatable value proposition, and convenience in the form of off-premises options.”

Fourth Quarter 2023 Highlights

• Total operating revenue was $115.4 million compared to $120.8 million in the prior year quarter.
• Denny's domestic system-wide same-restaurant sales** were 1.3% compared to the equivalent fiscal period in 2022, including 1.5% at domestic franchised restaurants and (1.2)% at company restaurants.
• Opened nine franchised restaurants, including one international Denny's location and two Keke's locations.
• Completed five Denny's franchised restaurant remodels.
• Operating income was $7.7 million compared to $17.6 million in the prior year quarter.
• Franchise Operating Margin* was $31.5 million, or 51.4% of franchise and license revenue, and Company Restaurant Operating Margin* was $5.4 million, or 10.0% of company restaurant sales.
• Net income was $2.9 million, or $0.05 per diluted share.
• Adjusted Net Income* and Adjusted Net Income Per Share* were $7.8 million and $0.14, respectively.
• Adjusted EBITDA* was $18.6 million.
• Cash provided by (used in) operating, investing, and financing activities was $21.4 million, ($4.5) million, and ($12.9) million, respectively.
• Adjusted Free Cash Flow* was $7.4 million.
• Repurchased $16.2 million of common stock.

Full Year 2023 Highlights

• Total operating revenue was $463.9 million compared to $456.4 million in the prior year.
• Denny's domestic system-wide same-restaurant sales** were 3.6% compared to the equivalent fiscal period in 2022, including 3.6% at domestic franchised restaurants and 2.7% at company restaurants.
• Opened 32 franchised restaurants, including 11 international Denny's locations and 4 Keke's locations.
• Completed 22 Denny's remodels including 21 franchised restaurants.
• Operating income was $52.8 million compared to $60.6 million in the prior year.
• Franchise Operating Margin* was $125.9 million, or 50.7% of franchise and license revenue, and Company Restaurant Operating Margin* was $27.9 million, or 13.0% of company restaurant sales.
• Net income was $19.9 million, or $0.35 per diluted share.
• Adjusted Net Income* and Adjusted Net Income Per Share* were $32.9 million and $0.59, respectively.
• Adjusted EBITDA* was $81.5 million.
• Cash provided by (used in) operating, investing, and financing activities was $72.1 million, ($7.6) million, and ($63.2) million, respectively.
• Adjusted Free Cash Flow* was $44.7 million.
• Repurchased $52.1 million of common stock.
  
  

Fourth Quarter 2023 Results

Total operating revenue was $115.4 million compared to $120.8 million in the prior year quarter.

Franchise and license revenue was $61.3 million compared to $66.5 million in the prior year quarter. This change was primarily driven by a $5.3 million decrease in initial and other fees associated with the sale of kitchen equipment in the prior year quarter.

Company restaurant sales were $54.0 million compared to $54.4 million in the prior year quarter.

Franchise Operating Margin* was $31.5 million, or 51.4% of franchise and license revenue, compared to $31.6 million, or 47.6%, in the prior year quarter. The favorable change in margin rate resulted from the completion of our kitchen modernization rollout during 2023.

Company Restaurant Operating Margin* was $5.4 million, or 10.0% of company restaurant sales, compared to $6.8 million, or 12.6%, in the prior year quarter. This margin change was primarily due to $1.8 million in legal costs in the current quarter partially offset by improvements in product costs compared to the prior year quarter.

Total general and administrative expenses were $19.3 million, compared to $17.0 million in the prior year quarter. This change was primarily due to increases in corporate administration expense, deferred compensation valuation adjustments and performance-based incentive compensation, partially offset by a reduction in stock-based compensation.

The provision for income taxes was $1.7 million, reflecting an effective tax rate of 36.9% for the quarter. Approximately $2.7 million in cash taxes were paid during the quarter.

Net income was $2.9 million, or $0.05 per diluted share, compared to $12.8 million, or $0.22 per diluted share, in the prior year quarter. This change in net income was primarily due to a $6.7 million impairment loss in the current quarter and $2.3 million of gains related to dedesignated interest rate swap valuation adjustments in the prior year quarter. Adjusted Net Income* per share was $0.14 compared to $0.18 in the prior year quarter.

The Company ended the quarter with $266.0 million of total debt outstanding, including $255.5 million of borrowings under its credit facility.

Adjusted Free Cash Flow* and Capital Allocation

Adjusted Free Cash Flow* in the quarter was $7.4 million after investing $4.5 million in cash capital expenditures, including facilities maintenance.

During the quarter, the Company allocated $16.2 million to share repurchases resulting in approximately $100.4 million remaining under its existing repurchase authorization.

Business Outlook

The following full year 2024 expectations reflect management's expectations that the current consumer and economic environment will not change materially.

• Denny's domestic system-wide same-restaurant sales** between 0% and 3%
• Consolidated restaurant openings of 40 to 50, including 12 to 16 new Keke's restaurants , with a consolidated net decline of 10 to 20.
• Commodity inflation between 0% and 2%.
• Labor inflation between 4% and 5%.
• Total general and administrative expenses between $83 million and $86 million , including approximately $12 million related to share-based compensation expense which does not impact Adjusted EBITDA*.
• Adjusted EBITDA* between $85 million and $89 million.

*   Please refer to the Reconciliation of Net Income and Net Cash Provided by Operating Activities to Non-GAAP Financial Measures, as well as the Reconciliation of Operating Income to Non-GAAP Financial Measures included in the tables below. The Company is not able to reconcile the forward-looking non-GAAP estimate set forth above to its most directly comparable U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) estimates without unreasonable efforts because it is unable to predict, forecast or determine the probable significance of the items impacting these estimates, including gains, losses and other charges, with a reasonable degree of accuracy. Accordingly, the most directly comparable forward-looking GAAP estimate is not provided.

** Same-restaurant sales include sales at company restaurants and non-consolidated franchised and licensed restaurants that were open during the comparable periods noted. Total operating revenue is limited to company restaurant sales and royalties, advertising revenue, initial and other fees and occupancy revenue from non-consolidated franchised and licensed restaurants. Accordingly, domestic franchise same-restaurant sales and domestic system-wide same-restaurant sales should be considered as a supplement to, not a substitute for, the Company's results as reported under GAAP.

Conference Call and Webcast Information

The Company will provide further commentary on the results for the fourth quarter ended December 27, 2023 on its quarterly investor conference call today, Tuesday, February 13, 2024 at 4:30 p.m. Eastern Time. Interested parties are invited to listen to a live broadcast of the conference call accessible through the Company's investor relations website at investor.dennys.com.

About Denny's Corporation

Denny’s Corporation is one of America’s largest full-service restaurant chains based on number of restaurants. As of December 27, 2023, the Company consisted of 1,631 restaurants, 1,558 of which were franchised and licensed restaurants and 73 of which were company operated. Denny's Corporation consists of the Denny’s brand and the Keke’s brand. As of December 27, 2023, the Denny's brand consisted of 1,573 global restaurants, 1,508 of which were franchised and licensed restaurants and 65 of which were company operated. As of December 27, 2023, the Keke's brand consisted of 58 restaurants, 50 of which were franchised restaurants and 8 of which were company operated.

For further information on Denny's Corporation, including news releases, links to SEC filings, and other financial information, please visit investor.dennys.com.

Cautionary Language Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

The Company urges caution in considering its current trends and any outlook on earnings disclosed in this press release. In addition, certain matters discussed in this release may constitute forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements, which reflect management's best judgment based on factors currently known, are intended to speak only as of the date such statements are made and involve risks, uncertainties, and other factors that may cause the actual performance of Denny’s Corporation, its subsidiaries, and underlying restaurants to be materially different from the performance indicated or implied by such statements. Words such as “expect”, “anticipate”, “believe”, “intend”, “plan”, “hope”, "will", and variations of such words and similar expressions are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. Except as may be required by law, the Company expressly disclaims any obligation to update these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this release or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events. Factors that could cause actual performance to differ materially from the performance indicated by these forward-looking statements include, among others: economic, public health and political conditions that impact consumer confidence and spending, commodity and labor inflation; the ability to effectively staff restaurants and support personnel; the Company's ability to maintain adequate levels of liquidity for its cash needs, including debt obligations, payment of dividends, planned share repurchases and capital expenditures as well as the ability of its customers, suppliers, franchisees and lenders to access sources of liquidity to provide for their own cash needs; competitive pressures from within the restaurant industry; the Company's ability to integrate and derive the expected benefits from its acquisition of Keke's Breakfast Cafe; the level of success of the Company’s operating initiatives and advertising and promotional efforts; adverse publicity; health concerns arising from food-related pandemics, outbreaks of flu viruses or other diseases; changes in business strategy or development plans; terms and availability of capital; regional weather conditions; overall changes in the general economy (including with regard to energy costs), particularly at the retail level; political environment and geopolitical events (including acts of war and terrorism); and other factors from time to time set forth in the Company’s SEC reports and other filings, including but not limited to the discussion in Management’s Discussion and Analysis and the risks identified in Item 1A. Risk Factors contained in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 28, 2022 (and in the Company’s subsequent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and Current Reports on Form 8-K).

The Company believes that, in addition to GAAP measures, certain non-GAAP financial measures are appropriate indicators to assist in the evaluation of operating performance and liquidity on a period-to-period basis. The Company uses Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted Free Cash Flow, Adjusted Net Income and Adjusted Net Income Per Share internally as performance measures for planning purposes, including the preparation of annual operating budgets, and for compensation purposes, including incentive compensation for certain employees. Adjusted EBITDA is also used in the calculation of financial covenant ratios in accordance with the Company’s credit facility. Adjusted Free Cash Flow is also used as a non-GAAP liquidity measure by Management to assess the Company’s ability to generate cash and plan for future operating and capital actions. Management believes that the presentation of Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted Net Income, Adjusted Net Income Per Share and Adjusted Free Cash Flow provide useful information to investors and analysts about the Company’s operating results, financial condition or cash flows. However, each of these non-GAAP financial measures should be considered as a supplement to, not a substitute for, operating income, net income, net income per share, net cash provided by operating activities, or other financial performance and liquidity measures prepared in accordance with GAAP.

The Company believes that, in addition to GAAP measures, certain other non-GAAP financial measures are appropriate indicators to assist in the evaluation of restaurant-level operating efficiency and performance of ongoing restaurant-level operations. The Company uses Restaurant-level Operating Margin, Company Restaurant Operating Margin and Franchise Operating Margin internally as performance measures for planning purposes, including the preparation of annual operating budgets, and these three non-GAAP measures are used to evaluate operating effectiveness.

The Company defines Restaurant-level Operating Margin as operating income excluding the following three items: general and administrative expenses, depreciation and amortization, and operating (gains), losses and other charges, net. Restaurant-level Operating Margin is presented as a percent of total operating revenue. The Company excludes general and administrative expenses, which include primarily non-restaurant-level costs associated with support of company and franchised restaurants and other activities at their corporate office. The Company excludes depreciation and amortization expense, substantially all of which is related to company restaurant-level assets, because such expenses represent historical sunk costs which do not reflect current cash outlays for the restaurants. The Company excludes special items, included within operating (gains), losses and other charges, net, to provide investors with a clearer perspective of its ongoing operating performance and a more relevant comparison to prior period results.

Restaurant-level Operating Margin is the total of Company Restaurant Operating Margin and Franchise Operating Margin. The Company defines Company Restaurant Operating Margin as company restaurant sales less costs of company restaurant sales (which include product costs, company restaurant level payroll and benefits, occupancy costs, and other operating costs including utilities, repairs and maintenance, marketing and other expenses) and presents it as a percent of company restaurant sales. The Company defines Franchise Operating Margin as franchise and license revenue (which includes franchise royalties and other non-food and beverage revenue streams such as initial franchise and other fees, advertising revenue and occupancy revenue) less costs of franchise and license revenue and presents it as a percent of franchise and license revenue.

These non-GAAP financial measures provide a meaningful comparison between periods and enable investors to focus on the performance of restaurant-level operations by excluding revenues and costs unrelated to food and beverage sales in addition to corporate general and administrative expense, depreciation and amortization, and operating (gains), losses and other charges, net. However, each of these non-GAAP financial measures should be considered as a supplement to, not a substitute for, operating income, net income or other financial performance measures prepared in accordance with GAAP. Restaurant-level Operating Margin, Company Restaurant Operating Margin and Franchise Operating Margin do not accrue directly to the benefit of shareholders because of the aforementioned excluded items and are not indicative of the overall results for the Company.