News

Layered daypart promotions boost Sonic's bottom line

June 21, 2012

Sonic Corp. has announced results for its third fiscal quarter ended May 31, 2012.

Highlights included:

• The company's net income per diluted share was $0.24, compared with a net loss per diluted share of $0.08 for Q3 2011; excluding debt extinguishment costs in the year-earlier quarter, net income per diluted share was $0.21;
• The company's Q3 net income totaled $14.4 million compared with a net loss of $4.7 million in the year-earlier quarter;
• System-wide same-store sales increased 2.8 percent during the third quarter, with an increase of 3.7 percent at company drive-ins and a 2.7 percent increase at franchise drive-ins; and
• Restaurant-level operating margins improved 140 basis points to 17 percent.

"Strong third quarter sales were driven by a layered daypart promotional strategy anchored by an integrated creative campaign that showcased multiple existing and new products appealing across all day-parts. We believe this effective use of creative and day-part promotional strategy complements the company's strong foundation of improved service, product quality and pricing and will help us achieve consistent, sustainable sales growth going forward," said Clifford Hudson, chairman and CEO.

Across the Sonic system, seven new franchise drive-ins were opened in the third quarter of fiscal 2012 versus 12 new franchise drive-in openings during the third quarter of fiscal 2011. For the first nine months of fiscal 2012, 19 new franchise drive-ins were opened compared to 26 during the same period prior year.

Also of note, Sonic completed its $30 million share repurchase program in early June. Fiscal year to date, stock repurchases totaled approximately four million shares or more than 6 percent of the stock that was outstanding as of the beginning of the fiscal year.

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