Wednesday, Panera Bread Co. (PNRA), an operator of retail bakery-cafes, reported that fourth quarter 2009 company-owned comparable bakery-cafe sales increased 7.4% on calendar basis and 5.9% on fiscal basis. The company increased its fourth quarter earnings guidance based on comparable bakery-cafe sales growth.
Richmond Heights, Missouri-based Panera posted a 6.8% increase in company-owned comparable bakery-cafe sales for the month of October. In the month of November, the sales were up 6.1% and for the month of December the sales increased 9.6%. Additionally, the company noted that company-owned comparable bakery-cafe sales was up 9.4% in the first 21 days of the January 2010 fiscal month.
Looking ahead, Panera raised its fourth quarter earnings outlook to be in the range of $0.94 to $0.95 per share from the prior guidance of $0.85 to $0.87 per share. The estimate includes the net impact of $0.05 per share of non recurring charges from asset retirement activity in the fourth quarter.
On average, 16 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expect the company to earn $0.88 per share for the fourth quarter. Analysts' estimate typically exclude one-time items.
PNRA closed Wednesday's regular trading at $68.39, down $0.49 or 0.71% on a volume of 410,373 shares and in the after hours the stock rose 2.72% or $3.98, trading at $71.11 on the Nasdaq.
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