Exhibit 99.1
RUBIO'S(R) REPORTS 1.6% INCREASE IN Q1 COMPARABLE
STORE SALES AND MEETS Q1 GUIDANCE
CARLSBAD, CA - May 8, 2003 - Rubio's Restaurants, Inc. (Nasdaq: RUBO) today
announced that revenues of $30.5 million for the 13 weeks ended March 30, 2003
increased 2% over revenues of $29.9 million for the same period last year.
Comparable store sales increased 1.6% over the same period a year ago, which is
within the comparable store sales guidance of 1% to 2%, released in mid-March.
"We were very pleased to post positive comparable sales in Q1, particularly
during a time of political and economic uncertainty and when many
restaurant/retail companies posted same store sales declines," said Sheri Miksa,
president of Rubio's. "These positive comp sales trends are evidence that our
"Evolution" strategy continues to strengthen our overall business. The Evolution
initiative provides larger portions, more grilled chicken, steak and
HealthMex(R) items and our new roasted chipotle salsa."
The company also announced net income of $56,000, or $0.01 per share for the 13
weeks ended March 30, 2003, compared to net income of $427,000 or $0.05 per
share for the same period a year ago. The earnings per share of $0.01 is within
the company's previous guidance of $0.01-$0.03 range previously announced on
March 12, 2003. "While the comp sales trends were positive, they were not as
strong as we had anticipated and we believe the shortfall was primarily due to
three factors: slowdown in retail activity, rollovers of previous deep-discount
promotions and poor weather in California (rain) and in the mountain states,"
said Miksa. "In addition, we had a number of planned one-time charges during the
quarter related to our Evolution initiative and our company-wide reorganization.
These primary factors had a larger impact on overall profitability due to softer
sales earlier in the quarter. Despite these impacts, our quarterly EPS was
within the projected range. Our strategy was to complete the Evolution
investments early in the year to obtain the maximum sales benefit for as much of
the fiscal year as possible. From this improved operational and competitive
foundation, we can now continue our focus on building sales with our new
marketing campaign, initially featuring our $5.99 Fajita Fiesta on television
and radio."
The company opened two new restaurants during the first quarter, one in
Escondido, California (San Diego area) and one in Emeryville, California (San
Francisco/Oakland area). The company expects to open an additional six to eight
company-owned restaurants this year, utilizing their new prototype design,
introduced in Q4 of 2002.
Conference Call
The company will host a conference call on Thursday, May 8, 2003 at 10:00 a.m.
Pacific Time to discuss first quarter earnings. For those wishing to listen, the
conference call will be broadcast live over the Internet at www.vcall.com. A
recording of the conference call will also be available for twelve months
through our website, www.rubios.com, under the Investor Relations section by
clicking on www.vcall.com.
About Rubio's Fresh Mexican Grill
Rubio's Fresh Mexican Grill is a leader in the high-quality quick-casual fresh
Mexican grill segment. Bold, distinctive and delicious Baja-style flavor is the
hallmark of Rubio's Fresh Mexican Grill. The "Flavor Leader" within the
quick-casual fresh Mexican grill category, Rubio's serves a range of flavorful,
Baja-style foods including the now "World Famous Fish Taco", and great
chargrilled chicken and steak products like burritos, salads, bowls and
quesadillas. Also featured is delicious seafood including lobster, shrimp and
grilled mahi mahi, as well as a full line of lower-calorie, lower-fat,
HealthMex(R) products - all served in a relaxed, warm and inviting atmosphere
reminiscent of Baja. Rubio's Fresh Mexican Grill is a publicly traded company
(NASDAQ: RUBO) headquartered in Carlsbad, California. Rubio's operates, licenses
or franchises 144 restaurants in California, Arizona, Oregon, Colorado, Utah,
and Nevada. For more information, visit the website at www.rubios.com
Some of the information in this press release or the related conference call may
contain forward-looking statements regarding future events or the future
financial performance by the company. Please note that any statements that may
be considered forward-looking "guidance" are based on projections, that any
projections involve judgment, and that individual judgments may vary. Moreover,
these projections are based on limited information available to us now, which is
subject to change. It should be clearly understood that internal projections on
which we base our "guidance" today and our perception of the factors influencing
those projects are highly likely to change prior to the end of the year.
Although those projections and the factors influencing them will likely change,
we are under no obligation to inform you if they do. We generally do not update
that "guidance" until the next call scheduled for that purpose. Actual results
may differ substantially from any such projections that we may provide as a
result of various factors including, but not limited to, factors impacting our
expectations regarding earnings per share, comparable sales growth and revenues,
increased product costs, labor expense and other restaurant costs, the success
of our promotions and marketing strategies, our ability to recruit and retain
qualified personnel, adverse affects of weather, adequacy of reserves related to
closed stores or stores to be sold, increased depreciation, asset writedowns, or
implementation costs related to the Rubio's marketing and concept positioning
initiatives, our ability to manage ongoing and unanticipated costs, litigation
costs, fluctuations in earnings growth on a quarterly basis, our ability to
implement a franchise strategy, our ability to open additional or maintain
existing restaurants in the coming periods, food commodity prices, competition,
and governmental actions regarding minimum wage. These and other factors can be
found in our filings with the SEC including without limitation in the "Risk
Factors" section of our most recent Form 10-K. The company undertakes no
obligation to release publicly the results of any revision to these
forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances following the date
of this release.
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Contact
Rubio's Restaurants, Inc., Carlsbad
Gary Allen, 760/929-8226
RUBIO'S RESTAURANTS, INC.
CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS
(IN THOUSANDS, EXCEPT PER SHARE DATA)
(UNAUDITED)
FOR THE THIRTEEN FOR THE THIRTEEN
WEEKS ENDED WEEKS ENDED
-------------- --------------
MARCH 30, 2003 MARCH 31, 2002
-------------- --------------
RESTAURANT SALES $ 30,405 $ 29,843
FRANCHISE AND LICENSING REVENUE 61 35
-------- --------
TOTAL REVENUE 30,466 29,878
COSTS AND EXPENSES:
Cost of sales 8,981 8,330
Restaurant labor, occupancy and other 17,563 16,756
Depreciation and amortization 1,384 1,284
General and administrative expenses 2,423 2,707
Preopening expenses 45 90
Gain on disposal/sale of property (34) (1)
-------- --------
OPERATING INCOME 104 712
OTHER EXPENSE - NET 10 1
-------- --------
INCOME BEFORE INCOME TAXES 94 711
INCOME TAX EXPENSE 38 284
-------- --------
NET INCOME $ 56 $ 427
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NET INCOME PER SHARE:
Basic $ 0.01 $ 0.05
======== ========
Diluted $ 0.01 $ 0.05
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SHARES USED IN CALCULATING NET INCOME
PER SHARE:
Basic 9,070 8,966
======== ========
Diluted 9,131 9,067
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PERCENTAGE OF RESTAURANT SALES
FOR THE THIRTEEN FOR THE THIRTEEN
WEEKS ENDED WEEKS ENDED
-------------- --------------
MARCH 30, 2003 MARCH 31, 2002
-------------- --------------
RESTAURANT SALES 100.0% 100.0%
COSTS AND EXPENSES:
Cost of sales 29.5% 27.9%
Restaurant labor, occupancy and other 57.8% 56.1%
Depreciation and amortization 4.6% 4.3%
General and administrative expenses 8.0% 9.1%
Preopening expenses 0.1% 0.3%
Gain on disposal/sale of property -0.1% 0.0%
OPERATING INCOME 0.3% 2.3%
OTHER EXPENSE - NET 0.0% 0.0%
INCOME BEFORE INCOME TAXES 0.3% 2.3%