Morgans Hotel Group Reports Second Quarter 2009 Results

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 10, 2009-- Morgans Hotel Group Co. (NASDAQ: MHGC) (“MHG”) today reported financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2009.
Revenue per available room (“RevPAR”) for System-Wide Comparable Hotels decreased 36.8% in constant dollars in the second quarter from the comparable period in 2008. Adjusted EBITDA for the second quarter was $11.3 million, a decrease of 59% from the comparable period in 2008.
-On August 5th, MHG announced the successful amendment of its revolving credit facility. This includes, among other things, the elimination of the leverage test, a reduction of the debt service coverage ratio to 0.90x from 1.75x, and an adjustment to the borrowing base test that is expected to allow MHG to access substantial liquidity for the life of the credit facility.
-As a result of the cost reduction plans, EBITDA at System-Wide Comparable Hotels during the second quarter declined at a rate of 1.8 times the related RevPAR percentage change, beating industry norms.
-MHG achieved a 19.8% reduction in operating expenses at System-Wide Comparable Hotels and a 37% reduction in corporate expenses in the second quarter of 2009 from the comparable period in 2008. Through our multi-phase contingency plans implemented beginning in early 2008, we estimate that we have reduced hotel operating expenses and corporate expenses by approximately $20 million and $10 million, respectively, on an annualized basis.
-With the completion of the redesigned Mondrian Los Angeles and Morgans properties in September 2008, MHG has no significant deferred capital expenditure requirements at its owned hotels.
-In April, Hard Rock opened a new and expanded Joint Music Venue and added approximately 65,000 square feet of meeting and convention space. The new north tower, consisting of 490 rooms, opened in July and the casino expansion and south tower, consisting of 374 rooms, are projected to open in late 2009 or early 2010.
-Boston Ames and Mondrian SoHo are currently targeted to open in the fourth quarter of 2009 and the middle of 2010, respectively.

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Mexican Restaurants, Inc. Announces 2009 Second Quarter Operating Results

Houston, Texas (August 10, 2009) For the 2009 second quarter of Mexican Restaurants, Inc. (the “Company”) ended June 28, 2009, the Company reported a net loss of $207,937 or $0.06 per diluted share, compared with a net income of $359,059 or $0.11 per diluted share for the second quarter of fiscal year 2008. For the 26-week period ended June 28, 2009, the Company reported a net loss of $28,083 or $0.01 per diluted share, compared with net income of $434,576 or $0.13 per diluted share for the 26-week period of fiscal year 2008.

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http://www.mexicanrestaurantsinc.com/node/357

Friedman Fleischer & Lowe Acquires Church’s Chicken®

ATLANTA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Church’s Chicken, one of the largest quick-service chicken concepts in the world, is pleased to announce the completion of its sale to San Francisco-based private equity firm, Friedman Fleischer & Lowe LLC (FFL). Church’s Chicken was formerly owned by Arcapita Bank B.S.C. ©, a leading international investment firm headquartered in Bahrain. FFL and Arcapita announced the signing of a definitive agreement to sell Church’s in June.

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http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/home/permalink/?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20090810005776&newsLang=en

Granite City Food & Brewery Ltd. releases results for Second Quarter 2009

MINNEAPOLIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Granite City Food & Brewery Ltd. (Nasdaq:GCFB), a Modern American upscale casual restaurant chain, today reported results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2009.
Highlights for the second quarter of 2009 were as follows:
-Restaurant-level EBITDA improves to 16.4% from 12.1% in prior year second quarter
-Restaurant-level EBITDA for comp stores increases to 18.5% from 14.5% in prior year second quarter
-Prime cost (food, beverage, labor) decreases 5.1 percentage points from 67.3% in prior year quarter to 62.2% in second quarter 2009
-Same-store-sales down 13.2% from prior year second quarter
-Adjusted company-wide EBITDA improves $1.5 million from $0.3 million in second quarter 2008 to $1.8 million in second quarter 2009.
-Corporate charges decrease $0.4 million in second quarter 2009 compared to second quarter 2008

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http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/home/permalink/?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20090810006282&newsLang=en

Abu Dhabi hotels top world list for room rates growth

The UAE capital was the only city to record a growth of 5 percent in real terms in a bi-annual hotel survey by Hogg Robinson Group (HRG), an international business travel company

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http://www.arabianbusiness.com/564206-abu-dhabi-hotels-top-world-list-for-room-rates-growth

IFA Hotels reports $108m profit for fiscal year end

Kuwait-based IFA Hotels and Resorts announced on Sunday a KD30.85m ($108m) profit for the fiscal year ending June 2009.The leisure firm said its revenues for the period from June 2008 to June 2009 were KD52.8m and that its total assets had increased to KD338.26m, compared to KD277.88m the previous fiscal year

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http://www.arabianbusiness.com/564241-ifa-hotels-reports-108m-profit-for-fiscal-year-end

Burglars steal $15m from Saudi princess

The thieves used a master key. In 10 minutes at dinner time, without making any noise, they managed to remove the safe from a suite occupied by the Saudi princess," who was not named, the daily La Stampa reported.
The safe was only fixed with silicon to the wall into which it was embedded, it said.
According to the daily La Repubblica, the burglary sparked a diplomatic incident.

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http://uk.news.yahoo.com/18/20090809/twl-burglars-steal-15m-from-saudi-prince-3cd7efd.html

IHG profit slump could reach 40% but still room for manoeuvre

InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG), the world’s biggest hotel company, is expected to announce a 40 per cent fall in first-half profits tomorrow. However, it is also expected to increase its estimate of cost savings and to maintain the dividend.
The group, which owns such brands as Crowne Plaza and Indigo, is also expected to confirm that it remains on track with a $1 billion (£600 million) relaunch of its core Holiday Inn brand and has no plans to extend the deadline for franchisees to upgrade their hotels, despite the credit crunch.

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http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/leisure/article6789272.ece

Blackstone Exploring Options To Break Up Hilton Hotels Group

RTTNews) - Sunday, reports said financial services provider Blackstone Group (BX: News ) is preparing to break up its Hilton Hotels Corp. business under plans to realize value from the group ahead of debt repayment deadlines three and four years away.

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http://www.rttnews.com/Content/BreakingNews.aspx?Node=B1&Id=1033500%20&Category=Breaking%20News

Last 500 Visitors

Restaurant Stock Performance for the week ending August 7, 2009

Restaurant Stock Performance for the week ending August 7, 2009

By Eric Hertha
(August 8, 2009 – Hospitality Business News) For the week ending August 7 our list of restaurant stocks increased by 0.9%, bringing the year to date change to 67.3%. The top 10 stocks for the week increased in value by an average of 11.6% led buy a 33% increase in Morton’s.

During the week Morton’s announced quarterly earnings of $0.04 per share vs. the Analysts estimate of $0.03. Prior to this increase Morton’s had been up 36.2% for the year. This compares to an increase of 161.6%, year to date, at Ruth’s Chris. For the week Ruth’s was down by 7.9% on signs that July sales are still weak and comments by Analysts.

Caribou Coffee Company, which has 522 stores, posted earnings per share of $0.06 vs. the Analysts estimate of $0.00. The stock increased by 19.1% for the week and is up 408.8% for the year. Continuing with coffee, the number 4 stock for the week, Tim Horton’s, increased by 9.1% due to a good performance in the second quarter. Sales increased by 5% (constant dollars) while EPS rose by 5.6%. and Starbucks added 7.5% based on good earnings and recent news.

Number 3 for the week with a 14.8% increase was Wendys/Arbys Group. Up until this week the stock had been down on a year to date basis but the earnings for the second quarter sparked some interest. Wendy’s same store sales were flat but margins improved. While at Arbys the decline seems to have slowed somewhat from the first quarter.

On the other end of the list the bottom 10 stocks decreased by 8.7% for the week led by Good Times Restaurants with a decline of 12.5%.Other than the March 31 results, which were not encouraging, I have not seen any other news stories.

Number nine was O’Charley’s with a decrease of 11.9% for the week The company reported their second quarter results and same-store sales for the second quarter of 2009 declined 6.9 percent at O'Charley's company-operated restaurants, 10.0 percent at Ninety Nine Restaurants, and 20.4 percent at Stoney River Legendary Steaks. Add to this that operating margins increased from 15% to 16.4%.

Number 8 was Brinkers with a decline of 11.2% for the week. There earnings were released during the week. An excerpt states
Brinker reported revenues for the 13-week period of $829.4 million, a decrease of 22.7 percent compared with $1,073.6 million reported for the same period of fiscal 2008. The company experienced a 9.0 percent decrease in comparable restaurant sales (see Table 1) in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2009 due to decreases across all brands. Revenues were also negatively impacted by a net decline in capacity of 18.2 percent due to 55 restaurant closures (five of which were Macaroni Grills) and the sale of 198 restaurants since the fourth quarter of fiscal 2008 (189 of which were Macaroni Grills).

In summary it’s the old story: Companies that are beating estimates are doing well while the ones that fall behind are being rewarded with lower stock prices.
To see the entire list click here

Caribou Coffee Reports Second Quarter 2009 Results

MINNEAPOLIS, Aug. 4, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Caribou Coffee Company, Inc. (Nasdaq:CBOU), the second largest company-owned gourmet coffeehouse operator in the United States based on the number of coffeehouses, today reported financial results for the second quarter of 2009 (thirteen weeks ended June 28, 2009).
HIGHLIGHTS FOR THE SECOND QUARTER OF 2009 INCLUDE:
* Earnings per share of $0.06 for the second quarter ended June 28,
2009
* 28% increase in commercial sales for the quarter
* Opened eight franchise units during the quarter

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Caribou Coffee Reports First Quarter 2009 Results

MINNEAPOLIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May. 7, 2009-- Caribou Coffee Company, Inc. (Nasdaq:CBOU), the second largest U.S.-based company-owned gourmet coffeehouse operator based on the number of coffeehouses, today reported financial results for first quarter 2009 (thirteen weeks ended March 29, 2009).
HIGHLIGHTS FOR THE FIRST QUARTER OF 2009 INCLUDE:
Net Income of $0.3 million or $0.02 per share and EBITDA of $4.6 million for the quarter.
Commercial sales increased 61% while franchise sales increased 14% compared to first quarter 2008.

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http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=192910&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1286086&highlight=

Militant behind Jakarta bombings thought dead

Indonesian authorities claim to have killed the top Islamic militant behind last month's Jarkarta hotel bombings.
Noordin Mohammad Top was reportedly shot dead by police following an 18-hour siege in Central Java.
Top is a prime suspect in last month’s near simultaneous suicide attacks on Jakarta’s JW Marriott and Ritz-Carlton hotels, which killed nine people and wounded 53.

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http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/article6788422.ece

Hotel companies climb after economic news

CHICAGO (AP) -- Shares of U.S hotel chains climbed Friday after a series of economic reports showed the recession may be drawing to a close and gave investors hope the hard-hit industry will see occupancy rates climb.
Early in the day, federal data showed that employers sharply scaled back layoffs in July. And the government reported that the national unemployment rate dipped for the first time in 15 months in July.
Other encouraging news: Workers' hours nudged up after sinking to a record low in June, and paychecks grew after having stagnated or fallen.

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http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Hotel-companies-climb-after-apf-1333768807.html?x=0&.v=1