Denny's Beats Q3 Views On Flat Revenue

Denny's Corporation DENN beat third-quarter expectations Monday on flat revenue while the company slightly raised its outlook for same-store sales growth.

Denny's was unchanged in after-hours trading.

The restaurant chain expects same-store sales at U.S.-franchised locations to increase by between 1.5 percent and 2 percent during 2014, compared with its earlier forecast of 1 percent to 2 percent.

At company-owned locations it expects comparable sales growth of 3.5 percent to 4 percent, versus its earlier exception of 2.5 to 3.5 percent.

Denny's also forecast 2014 free cash flow of $46 million to $48 million, compared with an earlier estimate of $45 million to $48 million.

For the recent period, Denny's, which operates eight fewer restaurants than a year ago, said system-wide same-store sales increased 2.4 percent, including 4.1 percent at company restaurants and 2.1 percent at franchised restaurants.

Net income grew 18.7 percent to $8.34 million, or $0.10 per share, from $7.03 million or $0.08 per share a year earlier.

Revenue slipped 0.2 percent to $117.03 million, from $117.28 million a year earlier.

Wall Street expected adjusted earnings of $0.09 per share on revenue of $115.39 million.