GREER, SC - Ryan's Family Steak Houses, Inc. reported that both its sales and net earnings for the third quarter of 1998 reached record levels.
Third quarter restaurant sales increased to $162,440,000 in 1998 compared to $152,731,000 during the third quarter of 1997. Net earnings for the quarter increased to $10,113,000 in 1998 compared to $9,526,000 in 1997. Earnings per share amounted to 24 cents in 1998 compared to 20 cents in 1997.
For the nine months ended September 30, 1998, restaurant sales increased to $483,122,000 in 1998 compared to $456,332,000 during the comparable period of 1997. Net earnings for the nine months amounted to $31,262,000 in 1998 compared to $31,154,000 in 1997. Earnings per share amounted to 71 cents in 1998 compared to 65 cents in 1997.
Commenting on the quarter, Charles D. Way, Chairman and CEO of the Company, said, “We are very pleased with our third quarter performance, particularly from a sales perspective. Same-store sales were up 2.8% for the quarter, resulting in our third consecutive quarter of sales growth. Our carving program is a great value to our customers, offering three different hand-carved meats nightly. Where feasible, we have increased awareness of the carving and further supplemented the sales growth through advertising. From a cost standpoint, we benefited from good overall store-level cost management as well as from lower beef and produce prices. Earnings per share for the quarter increased by 20% over last year. While this growth rate may be difficult to sustain, we feel confident that our continuing objectives of excellent store-level operations and opportunistic share repurchases will result in future earnings per share growth.”
At the end of the quarter, the Company owned and operated 277 and was franchiser of 26 Ryan's restaurants.
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