TAMPA, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. (Nasdaq: BLMN) today announced a business update related to COVID-19 as well as second quarter 2020 financial results.
Statement from David Deno, Chief Executive Officer
Our priorities remain unchanged as we continue to address these challenging times. We are focused on taking care of our people and serving food in a safe environment that protects both our Team Members and customers.
The investments made over the past several years to enhance the customer experience and rapidly pursue the emerging delivery opportunity have been critical to our success in navigating this pandemic. At the onset of this pandemic in March, we were able to quickly pivot to an off-premises only business model as dining rooms were forced to close. The rapid growth we experienced in off-premises sales allowed us to keep substantially all of our locations open during this time.
Starting in May, states began the process of partially re-opening their economies. Our decision to not furlough any employees during this pandemic has allowed us to quickly prepare our restaurants to re-open dining rooms in a safe and efficient manner. As of July 19, 2020, 928 company-operated restaurants (approximately 92% of U.S. restaurants) have reopened with limited in-restaurant dining capacity. At Outback Steakhouse, we had 527 restaurants open for dine-in service at limited capacity during the full week ended July 19, 2020. Comparable restaurant sales at these locations were down 10.7% from the prior year. Across our U.S. portfolio, we experienced consistent weekly sales momentum throughout the second quarter as we adapted to this evolving environment. This improved sales recovery, coupled with disciplined cost management, enabled us to generate positive cash flow for the month of June.
Recently, there has been a significant increase in reported COVID cases in certain states, including Florida and Texas, where we have a total of 286 company-owned locations. This has resulted in some local governments responding by taking additional measures, including implementing a further reduction of in-restaurant capacity in certain locations. Although this is a developing situation, to this point these capacity reductions have had a minimal impact on our overall sales trends. We continue to monitor and adhere to local restrictions and are maintaining elevated safety measures, including additional sanitation and disinfecting practices, use of gloves and facial protection for our employees, as well as contactless payment options for our consumers.
Despite these recent developments and the challenging environment that remains, we are looking forward to emerging as a better, stronger, operations-focused company. I am more convinced than ever of the important role that full-service restaurants will continue to play in the lives of our customers and our communities.
2020 Financial Outlook
As announced on March 20, 2020, the Company withdrew its 2020 financial guidance for the fiscal year ending December 27, 2020. Due to the current global market and economic conditions as a result of COVID-19, the Company will not provide guidance for the remainder of the year.
About Bloomin’ Brands, Inc.
Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. is one of the largest casual dining restaurant companies in the world with a portfolio of leading, differentiated restaurant concepts. The Company has four founder-inspired brands: Outback Steakhouse, Carrabba’s Italian Grill, Bonefish Grill and Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar. The Company operates more than 1,450 restaurants in 47 states, Puerto Rico, Guam and 20 countries, some of which are franchise locations. For more information, please visit www.bloominbrands.com.
