=El Pollo Loco (LOCO) reported earnings on Thur 3 Nov 2016 (a/h)

El Pollo Loco misses by $0.01, misses on revs; lowers FY16 guidance  :

• Reports Q3 (Sep) earnings of $0.18 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.01 worse than the Capital IQ Consensus of $0.19; revenues rose 7.8% year/year to $95.8 mln vs the $97.25 mln Capital IQ Consensus.
  • System-wide comparable restaurant sales grew 1.6%, including a 1.4% increase for company-operated restaurants, and a 1.8% increase for franchised restaurants.
• Co lowers guidance for FY16, sees EPS of $0.67-0.68 (prior $0.68-0.72), excluding non-recurring items, vs. $0.70 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate.
  • Sees system-wide comparable restaurant sales growth of approximately 1.0%
  • The opening of 17-18 new company-owned restaurants and 11-12 new franchised restaurants
  • Restaurant contribution margin of 20.6% to 20.8%