=Wendy's (WEN) reported earnings on Wed 10 Aug 2016 (b/o)

Wendy's beats by $0.01, beats on revs; raises low end of FY16 EPS, EBITDA guidance; lowers North America comp guidance :

• Reports Q2 (Jun) earnings of $0.10 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.01 better thanthe Capital IQ Consensus of $0.09; revenues fell 21.8% year/year to $382.7 mln vs the $366.92 mln Capital IQ Consensus.
• Co issues in-line guidance for FY16, raises EPS to $0.39-0.40 from $0.38-0.40, excluding non-recurring items, vs. $0.39 Capital IQ Consensus; increasing its outlook for 2016 adjusted EBITDA to flat to up 1 % compared to 2015 from its prior guidance of down 1 % to up 1 %. The Company now expects: Same-restaurant sales growth of ~1.0 to 2.0 % for the North America system (down from +3%). Restaurant margin of ~19.0 % at North America Company-operated restaurants. Commodity costs to decrease ~5 to 6 % compared to 2015. The Company remains on track with its plan to reduce its Company-operated restaurant ownership to ~5 percent of the total system by the end of 2016.
• The Company continues to expect to achieve the following North America system goals by the end of 2020: Average unit sales volumes of $2.0 million. Restaurant margins of 20%. A sales-to-investment ratio of at least 1.3 times for new restaurants. Restaurant development growth of 1,000 new restaurants (~500 net). The reimaging of at least 60 % of North America total system restaurants.
• Co now expects to achieve adjusted EBITDA margin of 38 to 40 %, an increase from its prior long-term target of greater than 35 %.