ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Sales at Olive Garden locations open at least a year rose slightly in fiscal September, and its parent company —Darden Restaurants Inc. — now foresees second-quarter adjusted earnings at the upper end of its prior forecast.
Darden, based in Orlando, Florida, runs restaurants including the Olive Garden, Longhorn Steakhouse, and The Capital Grille. It is in the midst of a public battle with activist investor Starboard Value, which is seeking 12 new directors for Darden’s board. Starboard has been critical of Olive Garden’s performance, while Darden has said it is implementing a variety of strategies to improve the restaurant chain’s results.
Recommended Stories
Earlier this year Darden sold its struggling Red Lobster chain. But Starboard and others took issue with the sale and wanted the company’s breakup structured differently.
On Thursday Darden reported that sales at Olive Garden locations open at least a year edged up 0.6 percent for the five weeks ended Sept. 28. Bigger same-store sales gains were reported at most of Darden’s other restaurants, including The Capital Grille, Yard House and Eddie V’s. The one exception was Bahama Breeze, which posted a 0.3 percent decline.
Darden also said that it now anticipates its second-quarter adjusted earnings from continuing operations will come in at the high end of its previously announced range of 26 cents to 28 cents per share.
Analysts surveyed by FactSet predict earnings of 26 cents per share.
Darden owns and runs more than 1,500 restaurants.
Its shares finished at $50.95 in trading on Wednesday. They have fallen more than 6 percent so far this year.
.
