Denny’s Corporation today reported results for its fourth quarter and year ended December 30th, 2009.
Full Year Summary
* Opened forty new restaurants and delivered positive system unit growth of ten restaurants
* Sold eighty-one company restaurants under Denny’s Franchise Growth Initiative (FGI); franchised restaurants are now 85% of Denny’s system
* Net income of $41.6 million, including $19.4 million of gains on sale of assets
* Adjusted income before taxes* grew $6.8 million, or 29%, to $30.0 million
* Generated $40.7 million in cash proceeds from asset sales and reduced outstanding debt by $49.0 million
* Same-store sales decreased 3.7% at company units and 5.2% at franchised units* Company restaurant operating margin improved 2.4 percentage points to 14.5% of sales, of which 1.1 percentage points, or $5.2 million, was from favorable workers’ compensation claims development