BJ's Restaurants reports Q4 net earnings of US$504,000, compared to year-ago earnings of US$7M; total revenues up 8.1% to US$199.8M

Nevin Barich

HUNTINGTON BEACH, California , February 19, 2014 (press release) – BJ's Restaurants, Inc. (Nasdaq:BJRI) today reported financial results for its fourth quarter and full-year 2013 that ended on Tuesday, December 31, 2013.

Fourth Quarter 2013 Highlights:

Total revenues increased 8.1% to $199.8 million

Total restaurant operating weeks increased 12%

Six new restaurants opened

Comparable restaurant sales decreased 2.7%

Net income and diluted net income per share were $0.5 million and $0.02, respectively
Excluding the net impact of $1.8 million of certain charges, or $0.04 diluted net income per share (described below), non-GAAP adjusted net income and non-GAAP adjusted diluted
net income per share were $1.7 million and $0.06, respectively.

Results for fourth quarter 2013 include pre-tax charges totaling approximately $3.9 million, or $0.11 diluted net income per share, related to a non-cash impairment charge for one of our restaurants, a Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission settlement related to our beer model, the estimated cost to settle a California sales tax audit, and employee severance charges. These charges were partially offset by a tax benefit of approximately $2.1 million, or $0.07 diluted net income per share, resulting from lower than expected pre-tax earnings for the full year, and the above charges recorded in the fourth quarter.

Full-year 2013 Highlights:

Total revenues increased 9.4% to $775.1 million

Total restaurant operating weeks increased 12%

17 new restaurants opened

Comparable restaurant sales decreased 1.1%

Net income and diluted net income per share were $21.0 million and $0.73, respectively

Excluding the net impact of $4.3 million of certain pre-tax charges, or $0.12 diluted net income per share (described below), non-GAAP adjusted net income and non-GAAP adjusted diluted net income per share were $24.6 million and $0.85, respectively.

Results for full-year 2013 include pre-tax charges totaling approximately $4.3 million, or $0.12 diluted net income per share, related to the fourth quarter charges described above and charges related to the closure and relocation of our smaller format restaurant in Eugene, Oregon in the second quarter.

"It has been widely reported that the 2013 holiday selling season was challenging for restaurants, retailers and other consumer-reliant businesses. As indicated when we announced preliminary fourth quarter results last month, our results reflect macro-economic trends, promotional activities we implemented to address the challenging business environment, and the impact of weather on certain of our markets," commented Greg Trojan, President and CEO. "Notwithstanding the weather, calendar, promotional environment and other industry-wide traffic headwinds, BJ's fourth quarter guest traffic continued to outperform the average of our casual dining peers in the Knapp Track report. Additionally, our average annual restaurant sales volume of $5.7 million continues to be among the highest in casual dining. Our ability to consistently generate strong restaurant sales levels on a $14 average check speaks to the quality of our food offerings and BJ's brand and concept appeal with guests."

"We are implementing a strategic plan to re-ignite comparable restaurant sales with focused initiatives in the areas of affordability, food quality and innovation, speed and branding. Our new menu launch begins next week and will be supported by a comprehensive, integrated branding campaign including print, digital, social media and TV which will commence in March. In addition to our new menu and brand messaging, over the last several months we have been testing a mobile 'pay at the table' offering that we believe is unique to the industry. Our technology solution allows our guests to use their smartphone, tablet or other mobile device to pay their bill at any time during the dining experience. Further addressing guests' preference for high quality food and faster service, in the second half of 2014, we will launch a mobile 'order ahead' option for our dine-in guests. Our 'order ahead' initiative also allows guests to use any of their existing mobile devices, thus eliminating the need for BJ's to invest in tablets or consumer facing hardware that can quickly become obsolete. We believe mobile 'pay at the table' and 'order ahead' can help increase throughput and average check, and most importantly improve the overall guest experience at BJ's."

The Company opened 17 new restaurants in 2013, including the relocation of an existing restaurant. Six of the new restaurants opened during the fourth quarter of 2013. "Last year we opened our first new restaurants in the Mid-Atlantic region in Virginia and Maryland and we plan to open more restaurants in this area over the next several years as these are untapped markets for BJ's and our initial openings were received favorably by guests," added Trojan. "Our pipeline for 2014 is very solid and consists of new restaurants in the Mid-Atlantic, Florida and Texas areas as we continue our clustering strategy to improve our brand awareness, supply chain and marketing efficiency."

"With only 147 restaurants open as of today, and with estimated room domestically for at least 425 BJ's restaurants, we have many years of solid expansion opportunities ahead. We continue to believe that BJ's four-wall unit economics are sound and clearly support capital investments in new restaurants. Our strong average annual unit sales volume of $5.7 million continues to rank BJ's in the top quartile of public casual dining companies. Additionally, the majority of our planned 2014 new restaurant openings will be based on BJ's new 7,400 square foot prototype, which is expected to cost approximately $1 million less than our current prototype while achieving similar sales productivity, thus providing a solid opportunity to expand returns on invested capital. Our objective has always been to implement and execute an operational and financial strategy that represents the best option to build value over the long term for the BJ's concept and brand and – most importantly – for our shareholders, and we continue to evaluate all options available to the Company," concluded Trojan.

Investor Conference Call and Webcast

BJ's Restaurants, Inc. will conduct a conference call on its fourth quarter and full-year 2013 earnings release today, February 19, 2014, at 2:00 p.m. (Pacific Time). Senior management will discuss the financial results and host a question and answer session. In addition, a live audio webcast of the call will be accessible to the public on the "Investors" page of the Company's website located at http://www.bjsrestaurants.com and a recording of the webcast will be archived on the site for 30 days following the live event. Please allow 15 minutes to register and download and install any necessary software.

BJ's Restaurants, Inc. currently owns and operates 147 casual dining restaurants under the BJ's Restaurant & Brewery®, BJ's Restaurant & Brewhouse®, BJ's Pizza & Grill® and BJ's Grill® brand names. BJ's Restaurants offer an innovative and broad menu featuring award-winning, signature deep-dish pizza complemented with generously portioned salads, appetizers, sandwiches, soups, pastas, entrees and desserts, including the Pizookie® dessert. Quality, flavor, value, moderate prices and sincere service remain distinct attributes of the BJ's experience. The Company operates several microbreweries in addition to using independent third party brewers to produce and distribute BJ's critically acclaimed proprietary craft beers throughout the chain. The Company's restaurants are located in California (64), Texas (29), Florida (15), Arizona (6), Colorado (5), Nevada (5), Ohio (4), Washington (4), Oklahoma (3), Oregon (3), Kentucky (2), Virginia (2), Indiana (1), Kansas (1), Louisiana (1), Maryland (1) and New Mexico (1). Visit BJ's Restaurants, Inc. on the Web at http://www.bjsrestaurants.com.

Industry Intelligence editor's note: In an omitted table, the company reported fourth-quarter 2013 net income of US$504,000 compared to fourth-quarter 2012 net income of $7 million.

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