Debts Paid, Expenses Cut, Chili's Parent Is Cooking .

The recession forced Brinker International, parent of Chili's Grill & Bar, to go on a diet. The company has sold off divisions and paid down debt.

Step two: Stabilize revenue and boost operating margins by four percentage points by cutting costs and becoming more efficient.

Read More:

Sale of On The Border to Golden Gate Capital Completed

OTB Acquisition LLC, an affiliate of Golden Gate Capital, announced that it has completed its acquisition of On The Border Mexican Grill & Cantina from Brinker International, Inc. (NYSE: EAT).

"This is an exciting day for On The Border, its team members and Golden Gate Capital. This is a great brand with great potential," said Josh Olshansky, a Managing Director at Golden Gate Capital. "We are enthusiastic about the Company’s significant growth opportunities and we are very pleased to partner with the On The Border team to continue the success of this market leading brand."

Read More:

Brinker International Reports Third Quarter Fiscal 2010 EPS

DALLAS, April 20, 2010 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ --Brinker International, Inc. (NYSE: EAT) announced third quarter fiscal 2010 earnings per diluted share from continuing operations of $0.37 compared to $0.40 for the third quarter of fiscal 2009, before special items (reconciliation included in Table 2). On a GAAP basis, earnings per diluted share increased to $0.39 from $0.34 for the third quarter in the prior year.


Including On The Border Mexican Grill & Cantina(R), earnings per diluted share before special items was $0.42 for the third quarter fiscal 2010 (reconciliation included in Table 2). The costs associated with implementing the new Chili's menu lowered earnings by approximately $5.0 million before tax, weather negatively impacted comparable restaurant sales by approximately 90 basis points and the resolution of certain tax positions resulted in a positive impact of approximately $3.0 million to tax expense for the quarter.

Read More:

Brinker International Announces Agreement to Sell On The Border Mexican Grill & Cantina(R)

DALLAS, March 25, 2010 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- Brinker International, Inc. (NYSE: EAT) has entered into a purchase agreement with OTB Acquisition LLC, an affiliate of Golden Gate Capital, to sell its On The Border Mexican Grill & Cantina brand. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.


Brinker expects the transaction to close by the end of fiscal 2010, subject to the completion of customary closing procedures. Brinker anticipates recording a gain upon completion of the transaction.

Brinker has agreed to provide transitional corporate support services to On The Border through the end of fiscal 2011, which will generate additional fees to offset the internal cost of providing the services. Moelis & Company LLC, is acting as Brinker's exclusive financial advisor in connection with this transaction.

Readmore:

Brinker Boosts Buyback Target as Earnings Exceed Estimates

March 26 (Bloomberg) -- Brinker International Inc., owner of Chili’s Grill & Bar, reported third-quarter earnings that topped analysts’ estimates and boosted its share buyback target.


Earnings before some items totaled 41 cents to 44 cents a share in the quarter ended March 24, the Dallas-based company said today. Analysts surveyed by Bloomberg estimated profit of 40 cents on average.

Readmore:

Brinker International Reports Second Quarter Fiscal 2010 EPS

DALLAS, Jan 20, 2010 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- Brinker International, Inc. (NYSE: EAT) announced second quarter fiscal 2010 earnings per diluted share of $0.29 compared to $0.27 for the second quarter of fiscal 2009, before special items and excluding Romano's Macaroni Grill(R) (reconciliation included in Table 2). On a GAAP basis, earnings per diluted share increased to $0.18 from a loss per diluted share of $0.21 for the second quarter in the prior year.
In the second quarter of fiscal 2009, the company completed the sale of Macaroni Grill while retaining a minority ownership interest.

Read more:

Brinker International signs franchise deal with Muy Mucho Group LP

Brinker International Inc. has signed a new franchise and development agreement with franchisee Muy Mucho Group LP.

Under terms of the agreement, Dallas-based Muy Mucho has acquired 21 existing Chili's Grill & Bar restaurants in Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska.

Read more;

Some Chain Restaurants Gaining Traction

Thus far in Q3 2009 earnings season, most of the chain restaurants have delivered “good” earnings results: generally negative sales comp results, favorable commodity and other cost reductions and as a result meeting EPS expectations.

Read more:

Maybe Customers Don't Want Their Baby Back Ribs

With Chili's resorting to a new version of its old baby back, baby back, baby back ribs commercial to drum up sales, it shouldn't be too surprising to find out that Chili's owner Brinker International (NYSE: EAT) reported disappointing results for its fiscal first quarter

Read more:

Brinker International Reports First Quarter Fiscal 2010 EPS

DALLAS, Oct. 20 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Brinker International, Inc. (NYSE: EAT) announced first quarter fiscal 2010 earnings per diluted share of $0.17 compared to $0.20 for the first quarter of fiscal 2009, before special items and excluding Romano's Macaroni Grill® (reconciliation included in Table 2). On a GAAP basis, earnings per diluted share decreased to $0.15 from $0.23 for the first quarter in the prior year

Read more:

Brinker International Inks Franchise Deal to Expand Into Russia

DALLAS, Aug. 18 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Brinker International, Inc. (NYSE: EAT), has entered into a development agreement with developer Trio's Group Ltd. to establish Chili's(R) Grill & Bar in Russia. As part of the deal, 25 restaurants are planned for development in the Russian Federation by June 2017, with the first Chili's opening in November 2010 in Moscow.

Read more;
http://news.prnewswire.com/ViewContent.aspx?ACCT=109&STORY=/www/story/08-18-2009/0005079610&EDATE=

Brinker International Reports Increase in Fourth Quarter Fiscal 2009 EPS and Provides Fiscal 2010 Outlook

DALLAS, Aug. 6 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Brinker International, Inc. (NYSE: EAT) announced fourth quarter fiscal 2009 earnings per diluted share of $0.52 compared to $0.42 for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2008, before special items and excluding Romano's Macaroni Grill (reconciliation included in Table 3). On a GAAP basis, earnings per diluted share increased to $0.41 from a loss per diluted share of $0.02 for the fourth quarter in the prior year. For the full-year fiscal 2009, earnings per diluted share increased to $1.44 from $1.41 in the prior year, before special items and excluding Macaroni Grill (reconciliation included in Table 4). On a GAAP basis, earnings per diluted share increased to $0.77 from $0.49 in the prior year.

Read more:
http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=119205&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1317775&highlight=

Chain Restaurant Same Store Sales Components Still Negative

We’ve recently listened carefully to McDonald's (MCD), Starbucks (SBUX), Chipotle (CMG), YUM, Dominos (DPZ) and Darden (DRI) earnings calls for news on sales/traffic/mix components. Brinker (EAT) and the upscale Morton’s (MRT) and Ruth Chris (RUTH) are forthcoming. Steak N Shake (SNS) and CKE reported Q3 sales via 8K filings. Not all companies disclose the same store sales components

Read more:
http://seekingalpha.com/article/150982-chain-restaurant-same-store-sales-components-still-negative?source=yahoo

International Expansion: Chili's Grill & Bar Opens in India

Here is another article on global expansion. From reading the article it appears that Chilis has changed their menu somewhat for India, however will a restuarant whose name is a dish made from beef go over well there?

I will be interest to follow the earning report comments to see how this goes.

Brinker profits from big helping of cost cuts

Brinker posts profit, same-store sales decline