Al Sharpton's after Darden's this time

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The Rev. Al Sharpton's National Action Network called Monday for major investors to dump Orlando-based Darden Restaurants, saying managers of a Cleveland-area Olive Garden sexually harassed women, discriminated against new moms, hired illegal immigrants and didn't adequately discipline a manager who had sex with employees.

The group plans to send letters this week to mutual-fund companies such as Vanguard, asking them to drop their holdings in Darden, said Richard Jones, a Midwestern representative for the National Action Network.
"We want to put pressure on the investors," Jones said. "We want them [Darden] to change the management and the culture in these stores."

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Darden to test Red Lobster & Olive Garden under one roof

Palm Coast will be the testing ground for a new Darden Restaurants Inc. concept of housing two of its restaurant brands in the same building, a company representative said.

The 8,700-square-foot building in the Palm Coast Town Center off State Road 100 will house both Red Lobster and Olive Garden restaurants. The restaurants, which will employ a total of 215, are both expected to start hiring Feb. 9 and are scheduled to open March 7.

Darden spokesman Rich Jeffers said the company created the “synergy restaurant” concept to expand into smaller markets that would not meet its population density requirements to build a single brand. Jeffers declined to say what that population density threshold is, but Palm Coast, about an hour south of Jacksonville, had a population of 73,168 in 2009, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

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New Restaurants Lift Darden Profits

Darden Restaurants Inc.'s fiscal second-quarter earnings rose 24% on new-restaurant growth and moderate gains at existing locations for its casual-dining chains.
However, the company's lead over competitors seemed to narrow. Through the close, the stock has risen 44% since the beginning of the year. Earlier this month, it hit its highest level ever.
The owner of the Olive Garden, Red Lobster and LongHorn Steakhouse chains said its consolidated same-restaurant sales increased 1.4% in the most recent period, compared with a 1% increase in the benchmark Knapp-Track index. It had led the index by 1.1 percentage points in the previous quarter.

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Darden expands to Middle East with franchise deal

Darden's Restaurants Inc. is working with Americana Group to develop and run its Red Lobster, Olive Garden and LongHorn Steakhouse brands in the Middle East.
Terms were not disclosed.
"The Middle East is an attractive, growing market that has shown a strong affinity for American brands, especially American dining brands," Darden Chairman and CEO Clarence Otis said in a statement.

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Darden Restaurants Reports 19% Increase in First Quarter Diluted Net Earnings Per Share

ORLANDO, Fla., Sept 21, 2010 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- Darden Restaurants, Inc. /quotes/comstock/13*!dri/quotes/nls/dri (DRI 43.20, -0.82, -1.86%) today reported sales and diluted net earnings per share for the fiscal first quarter ended August 29, 2010. In the first quarter, diluted net earnings per share from continuing operations increased 19% to 80 cents, versus 67 cents in the prior year.

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Darden shares fall on 4th-quarter earnings miss

Shares of Darden Restaurants Inc. fell on Thursday, after the operator of Olive Garden, Red Lobster and LongHorn steakhouse said its fourth-quarter profit fell more than analysts expected as consumer spending remained volatile.

THE SPARK: The restaurant chains' combined revenue at locations open at least a year declined 2.3 percent in the company's 2010 fiscal fourth quarter. The Orlando, Fla.-based company's CEO said month-to-month sales volatility in the industry during the March-through-May period "is an indication consumers remain cautious." Still he said in this fiscal year he expects economic and industry conditions to improve, with same-restaurant sales growth at the chains seen rising 2 precent to 3 percent.

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Darden Raises 2010 Outlook on Higher Traffic

The owner of Red Lobster and Olive Garden restaurants, Darden Restaurants (DRI: 40.4075, 1.4075, 3.61%), upped its outlook for profits thanks to heightened consumer traffic. The company now says per-share earnings from continuing operations will be up by 5-8% for its fiscal year ending in May, up from December’s prediction of flat to a 4% rise.

"The signs of sales and traffic improvement we began to see late in the second quarter and discussed during our December conference call with investors continued into January and February," said Darden CEO Clarence Otis in a statement.

The Orlando, Florida-based company, which also owns LongHorn Steakhouse and Capital Grille restaurants, says it will add between 50 and 55 new restaurants to its roster during the year.

Darden Restaurants Reports Second Quarter Diluted Net Earnings Per Share of 43 Cents

Second quarter sales from continuing operations were $1.64 billion, compared to $1.67 billion in the prior year, a 1.6% decrease. Blended same-restaurant sales for Olive Garden, Red Lobster and LongHorn Steakhouse were down 4.7% this quarter. Excluding the impact of the Thanksgiving holiday week, which was in the fiscal second quarter this year but the fiscal third quarter last year, blended same-restaurant sales were down 3.9%, which compares to an estimated decline of 5.9% for the Knapp-Track(TM) benchmark of U.S. same-restaurant sales, excluding Darden.

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Darden Restaurants Reports 16% Increase in First Quarter Diluted Net Earnings Per Share

ORLANDO, Fla., Sept 29, 2009 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX News Network/ -- Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE: DRI) today reported sales and diluted net earnings per share for the fiscal first quarter ended August 30, 2009. In the first quarter, diluted net earnings per share from continuing operations increased 16% to 67 cents, versus 58 cents in the prior year.
First quarter sales from continuing operations were $1.73 billion, compared to $1.77 billion in the prior year, a 2.3% decrease. Blended same-restaurant sales for Olive Garden, Red Lobster and LongHorn Steakhouse were down 5.3% this quarter, which compares to an estimated decline of 7.8% for the Knapp-Track(TM) benchmark of U.S. same-restaurant sales, excluding Darden.

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Darden Finds Secure Footing

Fitch recently revised its outlook on Darden Restaurants Inc. (DRI) to "Stable" from "Negative". The rating agency believes that the company is well positioned in the casual dining segment, which is still recuperating from the economic turmoil, plagued by rising unemployment and weak consumer spending.

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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

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

Darden Restaurants: Near-Record Earnings, Attractive Dividend Increase

Darden Restaurants Reports Fourth Quarter and Annual Diluted Net Earnings Per Share; Increases Quarterly Dividend by 25 Percent

Fourth quarter sales from continuing operations were $1.98 billion, compared to $1.83 billion in the prior year, an 8% increase (14 weeks vs. 13 weeks). Combined same-restaurant sales for Olive Garden, Red Lobster and LongHorn Steakhouse were down 1.4% this quarter (13 weeks vs. 13 weeks). For the full year, fiscal 2009 sales from continuing operations were $7.22 billion, a 9% increase (53 weeks vs. 52 weeks) from the prior year's $6.63 billion. Combined same-restaurant sales for Olive Garden, Red Lobster and LongHorn Steakhouse were down 1.4% in fiscal 2009 (52 weeks vs. 52 weeks), which compares to an estimated decline of 5.6% for the Knapp-Track(TM) benchmark of U.S. same-restaurant sales for casual dining chains, excluding Darden. Darden's total sales increase reflects meaningful new unit growth at Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse and Red Lobster as well as the benefit of an additional operating week in fiscal 2009. The additional operating week contributed approximately two percentage points of sales increase in fiscal 2009.

Why America Is Addicted to Olive Garden

Industry watchers wonder if Darden's Bahama Breeze will thrive