COSTA MESA, Calif., Jan. 12, 2021 (World NEWSWIRE) — El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. (Nasdaq: LOCO) (the “Company”) currently presented an update on the influence the COVID-19 pandemic experienced on its company through the fourth quarter ended December 30, 2020.
- System-wide comparable cafe income for the fourth quarter lessened .2%. The minimize consisted of a 3.% decrease in business-operated equivalent restaurant gross sales, partly offset by a 1.8% increase in franchise eating places. These examine to method-vast, corporation-operated and franchise cafe development of 3.9%, 4.3% and 3.6%, respectively, all through the fourth quarter of 2019. Process-wide comparable restaurant gross sales declined somewhere around 2.% in Los Angeles and encompassing locations even though increasing close to 3.% in other marketplaces.
- Fourth quarter income is envisioned to be $109.5 – $110.5 million, reflecting the Company’s similar restaurant profits effectiveness, which was negatively impacted by reduced functioning hrs in several of the Company’s eating places, and non permanent restaurant closures needed to guarantee the security of employees and prospects.
- Throughout the quarter, the Firm incurred around $2.5 million in COVID relevant costs, of which $1.7 million was unanticipated as of its 3rd quarter earnings get in touch with. These costs ended up primarily owing to leaves of absence and additional time pay out.
- The vast bulk of El Pollo Loco dining establishments go on to run on a consider-away, cellular select-up and delivery foundation only, as perfectly as retaining generate-thru operations in which available, in gentle of the authorities-mandated closures to our eating rooms. At the get started of 2020, 40% of overall revenue were driven by means of the drive via, which has developed to nearly 70% today. Around the identical interval, delivery and digital product sales have doubled, rising to 6% and 10% of overall revenue, respectively.
Bernard Acoca, President and Chief Govt Officer of El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc., said, “As with a lot of the cafe field, during November and December several of our staff and buyers have been impacted by the ongoing and elevated unfold of COVID-19, especially in Los Angeles and the encompassing regions in which almost 60% of our technique places to eat are found. In get to manage the safety of our employees and shoppers, we ended up necessary to carry out steps in our dining establishments in light-weight of the COVID-19 pandemic that negatively impacted the two our revenue and bills through the quarter. El Pollo Loco is a folks-very first business and we will continue to consider all needed actions to ensure the health and fitness, basic safety and wellbeing of our employees, franchisees and buyers. We keep on being self-assured that the procedures we have in location will travel income and financial gain advancement when we get by way of the worst of the pandemic.”
The expected economical outcomes are preliminary and unaudited, have not been reviewed by the Company’s unbiased registered general public accountants, and continue being matter to the completion of ordinary calendar year-conclusion accounting methods and changes and are issue to transform. The Organization expects to launch closing economical and operating benefits for its fiscal fourth quarter and fiscal year finished December 30, 2020 throughout March 2021.
ICR Meeting Participation
Company administration will host a digital hearth chat at the 23rd Once-a-year ICR Meeting. The Company’s discussion will get started at 12:30 PM ET on Wednesday, January 13, 2021. Buyers and intrigued events might listen to a reside webcast of this dialogue from the corporate web-site at www.elpolloloco.com beneath the “Investors” tab, or straight via the ICR Meeting web page www.icrconference.com.
About El Pollo Loco
El Pollo Loco (Nasdaq:LOCO) is the nation’s leading fire-grilled rooster cafe chain renowned for its masterfully citrus-marinated, fireplace-grilled rooster and handcrafted entrees working with contemporary ingredients influenced by Mexican recipes. With much more than 475 firm-owned and franchised dining places in Arizona, California, Nevada, Texas, Utah and Louisiana, El Pollo Loco is expanding its presence in essential markets by a mix of firm and current and new franchisee enhancement. Take a look at us on our internet site at ElPolloLoco.com.
Ahead-Looking Statements
This push release has ahead-seeking statements that are issue to challenges and uncertainties. All statements other than statements of historical reality incorporated in this press release are ahead-on the lookout statements. Forward-hunting statements discuss our recent anticipations and projections relating to our economical ailment, benefits of operations, plans, aims, upcoming performance and organization. You can discover ahead-seeking statements because they do not relate strictly to historical or latest details. These statements may possibly incorporate phrases these types of as “aim,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “expect,” “forecast,” “outlook,” “potential,” “project,” “projection,” “plan,” “intend,” “seek,” “may,” “could,” “would,” “will,” “should,” “can,” “can have,” “likely,” the negatives thereof and other phrases and terms of comparable which means in link with any dialogue of the timing or nature of future operating or economical performance or other situations. They appear in a amount of destinations through this press launch and involve statements with regards to our intentions, beliefs or latest anticipations about, between other matters, our success of functions, monetary situation, revenue ranges, liquidity, prospective clients, development, approaches and the business in which we work and our outlook as COVID-19 ailments strengthen. All ahead-on the lookout statements are matter to pitfalls and uncertainties that could induce real outcomes to differ materially from those people that we expected.
Although we think that our assumptions are sensible, we warning that it is extremely tough to forecast the impact of identified factors, and it is difficult for us to foresee all variables that could have an impact on our true effects. All ahead-looking statements are expressly capable in their entirety by these cautionary statements. You need to consider all forward-hunting statements manufactured in this press launch in the context of the challenges and uncertainties that could induce results to differ materially from our anticipations. These things include, but are not restricted to: the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on our business, our personnel, our clients, our companions, our industry and the economic climate as a full, our franchisees capability to keep functions in their personal places to eat, our potential to open new restaurants in existing and new markets and to broaden our franchise technique, which includes problems in discovering websites and in negotiating satisfactory leases our potential to contend correctly and the intensive competitiveness in the restaurant field the adverse affect of economic conditions on our (i) running effects and economic ailment, (ii) capacity to comply with the phrases and covenants of our credit card debt agreements, and (iii) ability to pay or refinance our current personal debt or to acquire further funding vulnerability to improvements in buyer tastes and financial ailments political and social things, which include with regards to trade, immigration and buyer choices vulnerability to ailments in the larger Los Angeles place vulnerability to purely natural disasters presented the geographic concentration and serious estate intense mother nature of our business will increase in rooster and other enter expenses our capacity to acknowledge and reply to and proficiently control the impression of social media and our potential to expand our electronic enterprise, supply orders and catering delayed or canceled potential restaurant openings cafe closures, due to economical functionality or or else and other hazards established forth in our filings with the Securities and Trade Fee from time to time, together with under Item 1A, Risk Things in our annual report on Sort 10-K for the yr ended December 25, 2019, and underneath Product A, Risk Variables in our quarterly stories on Kind 10-Q for the quarters finished March 25, 2020 and June 24, 2020, as these types of hazard variables may possibly be amended, supplemented or outdated from time to time by other reports we file with the Securities and Trade Commission. These filings are offered on line at www.sec.gov, at www.elpolloloco.com or on request from El Pollo Loco.
We warning you that the critical factors referenced above may not consist of all of the components that are critical to you. In addition, we can’t guarantee you that we will comprehend the benefits or developments we anticipate or foresee or, even if substantially realized, that they will result in the penalties we foresee or affect us or our functions in the techniques that we count on. The ahead-wanting statements involved in this push launch are manufactured only as of the date hereof. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any ahead-wanting assertion as a end result of new data, long term situations or normally, except as essential by law. If we do update just one or more forward-wanting statements, no inference ought to be built that we will make further updates with respect to those or other forward-wanting statements. We qualify all of our ahead-wanting statements by these cautionary statements.
Investor Get hold of:
Fitzhugh Taylor, ICR
[email protected]
714-599-5200
Media Make contact with:
Hanna Gray, Edible
[email protected]
323-202-1477
