UPDATE: Darden Posts Lower Q2 Profit

Darden Restaurants

reported a drop in its second-quarter profit. Darden's quarterly profit declined to $19.8 million, or $0.15 per share, versus a year-ago profit of $33.6 million, or $0.26 per share. Its revenue climbed to $2.05 billion from $1.96 billion. However, analysts were projecting earnings of $0.21 per share on revenue of $2.08 billion. For the FY14, Darden projects earnings to fall 15% to 20% versus the earlier year. It also Darden declared a dividend of $0.55 per share. Darden shares fell 1.74% to $52.00 in pre-market trading.