Income Narrows at Cheesecake Factory in Q2

The Cheesecake Factory Inc. had lower net earnings but higher revenues in the second quarter of this year after sales increased at its restaurants, the company announced. For the quarter ending on June 29, the company had a net income of $19.2 million, or $0.32 per share, on revenues of $418.9 million. In the same quarter last year, the company had a net income of $23.7 million, or $0.39 per diluted share, on revenues of $407.9 million. Sales at the company’s The Cheesecake Factory and Grand Lux Cafe restaurants increased 1.6 percent in the second quarter of fiscal 2010 compared to the second quarter of last year. During the second quarter of last year, sales at The Cheesecake Factory restaurants had increased by 1.6 percent and had increased 0.9 percent at Grand Lux Cafe restaurants. “Despite a still sluggish economy, we delivered our second consecutive quarter of positive comparable restaurant sales,” said David Overton, the company’s Chairman and CEO. “Leveraging our leaner infrastructure is helping us make consistent progress on our objective to improve operating margins back toward historic levels,” Overton continued. “We further reduced our debt by $30 million this quarter, in addition to maintaining a solid cash balance.” The company plans to open an additional The Cheesecake Factory restaurant during the company’s third fiscal quarter this year. Jessica Selva