Bojangles' Posts Revenue, Profit Growth, Boosts Outlook

Southeastern chicken restaurant chain Bojangles' Inc. on Wednesday boosted its outlook for the year again, as revenue and profit grew in its third quarter.

Shares jumped 7.4% in after-hours trading.

The Charlotte, N.C., company said it is now expecting revenue of $486 million to $488 million, up from its previous guidance of $483.5 million to $487.5 million.

It expects pro-forma earnings of 79 cents to 81 cents a share, compared with its previous guidance of 75 cents to 78 cents a share.

Bojangles', known as Bojangles' Famous Chicken 'n Biscuits, went public in May with an initial public offering price of $19 a share. The company's stock opened at $26.55 and set a high of $28.45 six days later. On Wednesday, the company's shares closed at $17.92 a share after tumbling 27% in the past three months.

For the period ended Sept. 27, Bojangles' continued to log sales growth at existing restaurants.

Sales at restaurants open for at least 15 months, a closely watched industry metric, rose 4.1%, beating the 3.4% growth analysts had forecast, according to Consensus Metrix. The company has logged 22 straight quarters of growth in the metric.

In all, company reported a profit of $8.91 million, or 24 a share, up from $6.99 million, or 19 cents a share, a year earlier.

On a pro-forma basis, per-share earnings were 23 cents. Analysts had forecast 18 cents a share in earnings.

Revenue grew 13% to $124.3 million, topping the $122.2 million in revenue analysts had forecast.

Bojangles' said revenue for the quarter was helped by having 46 more restaurants compared with the year-earlier period.

Write to Chelsey Dulaney at [e-mail]

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November 04, 2015 17:35 ET (22:35 GMT)

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