EXHIBIT 99.1
PRESS RELEASE
Contact: William W. Moreton
Chief Financial Officer
Phone: (314) 633-7123
PANERA BREAD REPORTS SYSTEM-WIDE COMPARABLE BAKERY-CAFE SALES INCREASED
7.3% FOR THE FOUR WEEKS ENDED DECEMBER 29, 2001, AND 109 BAKERY-CAFES WERE
OPENED IN 2001
St. Louis, MO, January 16, 2002 - Panera Bread Company (Nasdaq:PNRA) today
reported that system-wide comparable bakery-cafe sales increased 7.3% for the
four weeks ended December 29, 2001. System-wide comparable bakery-cafe sales
increased 6.3% for the fourth quarter and 5.8% for the full year in 2001. The
breakdown between company-owned and franchised bakery-cafes is as follows.
For the 4 weeks For the 12 weeks For the 52 weeks
ended December 29, 2001 ended December 29, 2001 ended December 29, 2001
----------------------- ----------------------- -----------------------
Company-owned 8.1% 6.4% 5.8%
Franchised 6.8% 6.2% 5.8%
Total System 7.3% 6.3% 5.8%
Average system-wide weekly sales (excluding the three specialty bakery-cafes and
closed locations) increased 10.0% to $35,720 for the four weeks ended December
29, 2001 compared to $32,484 for the five weeks ended December 30, 2000. For the
52 weeks ended December 29, 2001, the average system-wide weekly sales
(excluding the three specialty bakery-cafes and closed locations) increased 8.1%
to $33,608 compared to $31,077 for the 53 weeks ended December 30, 2000.
The company reported that it opened 39 bakery-cafes in the fourth quarter (7
company-owned and 32 franchised bakery-cafes). For the year, the Company opened
109 bakery-cafes (21 company-owned and 88 franchised bakery-cafes) and closed
two units. This was significantly above the previously revised target of 92
bakery-cafes (17 company-owned and 75 franchised bakery-cafes) in 2001. This
brings the total number of bakery-cafes open as of December 29, 2001 to 369 (110
company-owned and 259 franchised bakery-cafes).
Additionally, the company announced that system-wide sales for the 52 weeks
ended December 29, 2001 were $529.4 million, which represented a 50.9% increase
over the $350.8 million of system-wide sales for the 53 weeks ended December 30,
2000.
The company will release its fourth quarter earnings on March 7, 2002.
Panera Bread Company owns and franchises bakery-cafes under the Panera Bread and
Saint Louis Bread Co. names. The company is a leader in the emerging specialty
bread/cafe category due to its unique bread combined with a quick, casual dining
experience. Additional information is available on the company's website,
www.panerabread.com.
Matters discussed in this news release, including any discussion or impact,
express or implied, on the Company's anticipated growth, operating results and
future earnings per share contain forward-looking statements within the meaning
of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities
Exchange Act of 1934 (identified by the words "positioned", "estimate",
"project", "target", "will", "intend", "expect", "future", "anticipates", and
similar expressions) which express management's present belief, expectations or
intentions regarding the Company's future performance. Moreover, the Company's
actual results could differ materially from those set forth in the
forward-looking statements due to known and unknown risks and uncertainties and
could be negatively impacted by a number of factors. These factors include but
are not limited to the following: the ability of the Company to aggressively
expand its business going forward is subject to the availability of sufficient
capital to it and the developers party to franchise development agreements with
the Company; and the Company's operating results may be affected by many
factors, including but not limited to variations in the number and timing of
bakery-cafe openings and public acceptance of new bakery-cafes, competition and
other factors that may affect retailers in general. These and other risks are
detailed from time to time in the Company's SEC reports, including its Form 10-K
for the year ended December 30, 2000.
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