Bloomin' Brands Q3 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

Quartr
Provided by Quartr
November 3, 2023

There are 10 speakers on the call.

Operator

Good morning, and welcome to the Bloomin' Brands Inc. Third Quarter 2023 Earnings Conference Call. All participants will be in listen only mode. After today's presentation, there will be an opportunity to ask questions. Please note this event is being recorded.

Operator

I would now like to turn the conference over to Tara Perian, Vice President, Corporate Finance and Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

Speaker 1

Thank you, and good morning, everyone. With me on today's call are David Deno, our Chief Executive Officer And Chris Meyer, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. By now, you should have access to our fiscal Q3 2023 earnings release. It can also be found on our website at www.bloominbrands.com in the Investors section. Throughout this conference call, we will be presenting results on an adjusted basis.

Speaker 1

An explanation of our use of non GAAP financial measures And reconciliations to the most directly comparable GAAP measures appear in our earnings release on our website as previously described. Before we begin formal remarks, I'd like to remind everyone that part of our discussion today will include forward looking statements, including a discussion of recent trends. These statements are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results our SEC filings, which are available at www.sec.gov. During today's call, we'll A brief recap of our financial performance for the fiscal Q3 2023, an overview of company highlights and current thoughts on Q4 and fiscal 2023 guidance. Once we've completed these remarks, we'll open the call up for questions.

Speaker 1

With that, I would like to now turn the call over to David Deno.

Speaker 2

Well, thank you, Tara, and welcome to everyone listening today. As noted in this morning's earnings release, adjusted Q3 2023 diluted earnings per share was $0.44 This compares to $0.35 in Q3 2022, reflecting a growth of 26% year over year. Combined U. S. Comp sales were down 50 basis points and traffic was 60 basis points behind the industry.

Speaker 2

Following Labor Day, sales trends in the casual dining industry softened. From August to September, there was nearly a 300 basis point decline in comparable sales trends. Our brands experienced a similar change in trend. Despite these top line headwinds, we had 90 basis points of restaurant margin expansion versus last year, driven by our productivity initiatives. As a result, our Q3 profitability remains strong.

Speaker 2

Moving forward, although the industry landscape has changed Earlier this year, we expect U. S. Comp sales to improve sequentially in Q4 from Q3. We have already seen an improvement in October This is incorporated within our Q4 guidance. In the long term, we are committed to the strategic priorities that are making us a stronger, leaner, operation centric company.

Speaker 2

These priorities include: 1st, driving in restaurant same store sales growth and this is our top priority 2nd, increasing new restaurant openings while refreshing our existing assets. 3rd, maintaining our off premises momentum. 4th, becoming a more digitally driven company. And finally, investing in technology to drive growth while preserving margins. Since 2019, we have made great progress on improving our operating model through simplification efforts and by leveraging investments to improve efficiency.

Speaker 2

The efforts have resulted in strong margin gains that have sustained despite record inflation. These achievements also provide a strong foundation for the exciting growth ahead We have confidence that these priorities will enable us to drive sustainable long term sales and profit growth. In addition, our investments in the customer experience In both restaurant technology and operational simplification allow us to provide differentiated guest experience that strengthens our value proposition. Many of these investments have been made across the entire portfolio, but the primary focus has been at Outback. With a strong operating foundation and healthy margins, Improving in restaurant sales and traffic is our top priority.

Speaker 2

As the economic and consumer landscape continues to evolve, we are making sure we continue to evolve with it. This includes doing the work to ensure we exceed the needs of our existing and future customers. This ongoing effort is always being done through the lens of the consumer and customer analytics. A few quarters ago, we discussed our No Rules Just Right campaign that built on Outback's brand equity and heritage. But this is more than just marketing.

Speaker 2

It's an attitude. It's how we reenergize our restaurants and bring back the irreverence that Outback is known for. We'll be spending more on marketing and advertising in Q4 as well as 2024. Although we do not intend to return to pre pandemic levels, we do believe a higher level of advertising spend is warranted moving forward. Utilizing a blend of television and high return digital tactics, We believe our increased marketing presence can help build traffic.

Speaker 2

We will leverage a combination of new product innovation, highlighting our already accessible price points. For example, our current LTO at Outback, the Steak and Mates 16.99 combo offering provides a great value to the guest and an attractive return. Recognize in the short term that driving traffic growth may be challenged as the consumer is more careful with their discretionary spending. We'll be thoughtful about our approach to discounting in this environment. Another catalyst for growth are the investments we are making to enhance our operations at Outback.

Speaker 2

At the end of the Q3, we completed the rollout of our server also providing a cost saving opportunity for the company. Now our focus is leveraging this technology to further improve the guest experience. This will lead to increased intent to return metrics, which drive additional guest frequency and traffic growth. We are confident in the strategy at Outback and are making the decisions to set up the brand for the long term. We'll remain disciplined in our response in this environment and look forward to updating you on our progress in the future.

Speaker 2

As it relates to the broader strategic priorities for the company, let me first talk about development. We are upgrading our assets to remodeling, relocating and opening new restaurants, especially Outback. On our remodeling efforts, we are at the beginning of a multiyear effort and remain on track for 100 remodels this year. In terms of relocations, At Outback, we continue to see outside sales lift with average volumes exceeding $4,700,000 per year. The success of our relocation program reinforces broad consumer appeal of Outback and there are still another 50 relocation opportunities remaining.

Speaker 2

The new restaurant pipeline continues to build outback and across the portfolio we are seeing good returns on new units. Our development efforts provides a runway for future growth and are a critical part of our strategy. Complementing this strategy is our leading off premises channel. This business has more than doubled since 2019 and currently represents 25% of our U. S.

Speaker 2

Sales. As pioneers in to go, we continue to have robust demand and are maintaining strength in 3rd party delivery. This is a highly incremental occasion and is differentiated offer that is In addition, the success of our catering business, particularly at Carrabba's provides a runway for future growth. Before I turn it over to Chris, I want to comment on a couple of The off premises and catering channels are proving to be very robust. Off premises is 34% of Provid's sales, which includes a strong contribution from our growing catering business.

Speaker 2

Carrabba's has the perfect menu to meet the demands of this important and growing channel. We launched Carrabba's Bistro earlier this year, which is a lunch focused catering option featuring a wide variety of sandwiches Represent Carrabba's Italian heritage. This continues to outperform our expectations. Off premises will continue to remain a large part of the company in the future. Additionally, Kravis continues to offer innovative product offerings such as the wine dinners and seasonal specials, which highlight the great value and experience that this brand is known for.

Speaker 2

The strong sales at Carrabba's combined with productivity initiatives and cost management, our financial returns continue to get stronger. Operations, but it's driven by our market leading business in Brazil. Brazil had another outstanding quarter with significant growth in sales and profits. The Brazil team offers amazing food and exceptional service and we continue to rapidly expand the business throughout the country. We look forward to capitalizing on our leading position and double our restaurant footprint in the coming years.

Speaker 2

Importantly, the sales growth initiative I described are supported by a solid foundation with healthy margins, robust cash flow and strong balance sheet. This strength gives us the ability to invest in new unit development, technology enhancements and asset improvements while meeting our commitments. We remain dedicated to delivering great food and experience for our guests, while building a strong business that will continue to thrive for many years to come. Finally, our results would not be possible without our great teams in the restaurants and in our restaurant support center. Thank you for delivering on outstanding hospitality and service to our guests.

Speaker 2

And with that, I'll now turn the call over to Chris, who will provide more detail on Q3 and our thoughts on Q4.

Speaker 3

Thanks, Dave, and good morning, everyone. I would like start by providing a recap of our financial performance for the fiscal Q3 of 2023. Total revenues in Q3 were $1,080,000,000 which was up 2% from 2022. This was primarily driven by revenue generated from net restaurant openings, the Brazil tax exemption, as well as favorable foreign exchange translation. Consistent with the broader casual dining industry, we saw a sizable change in trends coming out of Labor Day and September was softer than expectations.

Speaker 3

As such, U. S. Comparable restaurant sales were down 50 basis points in Q3. Average check was up 4.2% in Q3 versus 2022. As we mentioned on our last call, Menu pricing is rolling off, which is translating into lower average check as we move throughout the year.

Speaker 3

This will continue in Q4 as we do not intend to take significant additional pricing for the remainder of the year. The softer industry backdrop suggests we must remain disciplined on future pricing actions to maintain proper balance on our price value equation. At approximately 25% of U. S. Sales, Q3 off premises increased 70 basis points from Q2.

Speaker 3

Importantly, the highly incremental third party delivery business remains healthy and was flat at 12% of U. S. Sales. As it relates to other aspects of our Q3 financial performance, GAAP diluted earnings per share for the quarter was $0.45 versus $0.34 of diluted earnings per share in 2022. Adjusted diluted earnings per share was $0.44 versus $0.35 of adjusted diluted earnings per share in 2022.

Speaker 3

Adjusted restaurant level operating margins were 14% versus 13.1% last year. Domestically, the benefits from our pricing and productivity initiatives continue to offset inflation. The technology we are putting into our restaurants is having an increasingly positive impact on our margins and the overall levels of inflation moderated somewhat in Q3 versus the Q2. As it relates to inflation, commodity inflation was up 2% in Q3. We had favorability in produce, dairy and seafood, which helped to lower the overall inflation levels.

Speaker 3

We do expect commodities to be closer to 6% in Q4 as we lap some 2022 beef favorability that we are able to realize. We still expect total year inflation to be mid single digits. Labor inflation was up 4.9%. Labor continues to be in line with our full year guidance expectations of mid single digits. Restaurant operating expense inflation was 5.2%.

Speaker 3

This is consistent with our expectations for the year. Also worth noting as it relates a softer consumer environment. We also continue to benefit from the Brazil tax exemption in Q3, but as a reminder, The Brazil tax benefit will go away starting in the 4th quarter. Total company adjusted operating income margin was 5.3% Q3 compared to 4.9 percent in 2022. Depreciation expense was up in Q3 consistent with our increased levels of capital spending and our investments in infrastructure to support growth.

Speaker 3

Overall, we remain focused on maintaining the progress we have made in margins since 2019. In Q3, we were 300 basis points above our Q3 2019 adjusted operating income margin. Turning to our capital structure, Total debt was $795,000,000 at the end of Q3. Our current balance sheet net leverage ratio was 1.3 times and our current Lease adjusted leverage ratio remains below 3 times. In terms of share repurchases, year to date, we have repurchased 2,400,000 shares of stock $61,000,000 through the end of October.

Speaker 3

We still have $79,000,000 remaining on the new authorization that the Board approved on February 7. The Board also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.24 a share payable on November 29. We believe our free cash flow allocation is balanced and we'll continue to deploy dollars against additional debt pay down, share repurchases and our dividend. Now turning to our 2023 and Q4 guidance. First, we are adjusting our full year 2023 guidance to account for the softer industry backdrop.

Speaker 3

We expect full year U. S. Comparable restaurant sales to be approximately 1.5% to 2%. This is on a 53 week comparable basis. Adjusted earnings per share are expected to be $2.80 to $2.90 This change in guidance is primarily driven by the reduction in U.

Speaker 3

S. Comp sales. We are lowering our full year tax rate assumption in conjunction with the lowered earnings to be between 10% 11%. Capital expenditures are now expected to be between $260,000,000 $280,000,000 As we've been able to pull forward costs associated with 2024 projects, all other metrics remain the same as we communicated during our February 16 earnings release. As it relates to the Q4, trends in October have improved from the September softness.

Speaker 3

As such, we expect U. S. Comparable restaurant sales to be flat to 1%. This reflects a 14 week to 14 week comparison. We expect Q4 adjusted earnings per share to be between 0.6 $4 and $0.74 In summary, we successfully navigated a challenging environment in Q3.

Speaker 3

We will remain disciplined in executing against our strategy in Q4 and we will emerge a better, stronger operations focused company. And with that, we'll open up the call for questions.

Operator

We will now begin the question and answer session. The first question comes from Jeffrey Bernstein with Barclays. Please go ahead.

Speaker 4

Great. Thank you very much. Two questions. The first one, Dave, you mentioned a Comp slowdown, I guess, post Labor Day, but perhaps maybe a little bit of a bounce back in October. I'm just wondering if you can maybe Assess what you attribute that to.

Speaker 4

I feel like we've heard 3 different theories. 1, just be the consumer headwinds that are finally taking hold, which Perhaps led to that slowdown in September, but then the bounce back being a return to more seasonality it really the consumer is a lot weaker now or would you attribute more to seasonality and therefore we're in a better place with the consumer still in relatively good shape?

Speaker 2

Yes, hi. Good morning. We view it primarily as seasonality as we look at just the history. Obviously, we've got to keep track Various macro headwinds that are out there, student loan repayments, interest rates, etcetera. But there's some seasonality there.

Speaker 2

But also importantly, what we're doing as a company, Right. And the offers that we have and what we're doing and we talked about the uptick in September and we feel good about November December as well and that's in our guidance. So we think the consumer is in a decent spot, but we think it's primarily a return to seasonality to look at historically.

Speaker 4

Got it. So when you say the softer industry backdrop to close the year, it's not so much the consumer for sale, although you're watching it, but It was just more like seasonality that led to that dip in September rather than some sort of consumer weakness.

Speaker 2

That's what we're watching the consumer very closely, but Certainly, seasonality in September is what we primarily think. And as we look at going forward for the rest of the quarter, we feel good about what our programs and where we're going to stand and we've tried to incorporate that in our guidance that bounce back.

Speaker 4

Understood. I mean, could we just directionally look out To next year, I think, Chris, you said that your guidance for commodities and labor and restaurant expenses this year were all kind of mid single digit And you took some pricing to mitigate that, but how do you think about that going into next year? 1, would you expect inflation to maybe moderate across those lines even if you don't Specific guidance and how you think of that relative to menu pricing because if there is a slow and consumer backdrop, some would say don't take enough price to fully offset the inflation, maybe take a hit Margin, but preserved traffic. So how do you think about that theoretically in terms of directional inflation for next year? And how you think about price?

Speaker 4

Will you Offset the inflation or let it hit the margin in the short term?

Speaker 3

Yes. Good morning, Jeff. Conceptually, our formula is pricing plus productivity inflation. So I think that candidly, it's probably a little early to speculate on where inflation is going to level out next year. Obviously, we don't we've talked about this Prior years, we don't finalize our beef outlook until December.

Speaker 3

So it's probably too early to give us a read on 2024 commodities. But look anecdotally outside of beef, things are looking pretty rational across the basket, which I think is a good sign. Beef is a little bit of an unknown. We're still seeing the same information As everyone else out there, overall beef production remains a challenge. But other than that, there isn't too much to say at this point other than we As a company have repeatedly shown the ability to navigate these markets as good as anyone else out there.

Speaker 3

So we'll monitor that. We'll be sure that we have initiatives in place because we do have a good amount of rollover from our productivity that we put in place this year and we've got a lot of new ideas for next year potentially as well that can help And what that does is that does reduce the need to take as much pricing as you would normally need to take to That inflations because we're like we're obviously we're pretty mindful of where the consumer is and we do believe that going in with a mindset To keep the pricing as low as possible is the right place to be. Now in terms of labor and how that plays in, look, labor has been pretty Certainly, where it was last year. But look, it wouldn't surprise me at all if we're still talking in that low single to mid single digit kind of inflation range just sort of into perpetuity.

Speaker 2

Hey, Jeff, just one thing I want to add. We've been really careful about our price increases. And if you look at our Comp breakdown, we've got a 4% change in PPA in Q3 and that's pretty disciplined Versus what's going on elsewhere in the industry. So I think we're really trying to make sure that our price value equation, as we continue to improve service And food, especially Outback comes together to help grow traffic.

Speaker 3

Well, and just to piggyback off of that, if you look at our Q4 guide, that does imply that your Average is going to be in that 2.5% to call it 3% range, which again, as we've indicated, we do expect that check average to tick down as the year progresses, and we're going to see that again in Q4.

Speaker 4

Understood. Thank you.

Operator

The next question comes from Alex Slagle with Jefferies. Please go ahead.

Speaker 5

All right. Thanks. Good morning. As you look across your brands and think about what it Really takes to win market share in casual dining and drive Draft Scout performance. I mean, Carrabba's performance really stands out.

Speaker 5

And I'm curious How much of that is related to the specific category dynamics versus more fundamental execution elements? And To the degree there are executional aspects that are driving that success, are there bigger, more impactful actions that you think you need to Take it out back to deliver the kind of experience that translates into more visible traffic share gains. I know some of that will come Still with the equipment and technology recently deployed, but just interested in your thoughts there.

Speaker 2

Yes. Good morning. I'll start with Outback and then move to Carrabba's. As you look at Outback and traffic, there are 3 or 4 things that are crucial. And the very first thing which is our top priority is our restaurant operations in restaurant operations and leveraging our technology investment and providing that great customer metrics are improving and we're leveraging our technology and we'll continue to stay razor focused because that's a big way of growing sales At Outback, we are going to spend more on media, because we've got some really great ideas that we like and you'll see that in Q4 and we'll see that going into 2024.

Speaker 2

And Chris Talked about our initiatives and productivity to help pay for some of that as we look to do the magic of the and grow traffic and preserve margins. We want to make sure that we remodel and update our Outback restaurants to make sure that the consumer is getting that type of experience. We talked about our remodel program. And then finally, as we talked earlier about our price value equation and being very mindful about our price increase. And then we've got a really great off premises business that we've got to continue to grow and leverage.

Speaker 2

Carrabba's is just doing extremely well on the off premises business especially, but also in some of their in restaurant experiences. Their margins are improving. And like I mentioned in the script, they've earned the right to grow and we're looking to build that pipeline as we move forward. So Croppins has done a great job and I think what's helped them also is they have a really strong off premises business. That doesn't mean that they're not focusing on in restaurant dining, but they have a really strong off premises business that they're continuing to leverage.

Speaker 5

Thanks. And had a Follow-up on the other restaurant operating expense line. It was up quite a bit this quarter and feels like it's one place that Have seen less of a relative improvement over the years versus the peers and relative to the big gains you've made in food and labor I realize much of this has to do with your ability to drive volumes and leverage here, but are there opportunities to explore to be more efficient or to better Leverage your scale here?

Speaker 3

Yes. No, I think absolutely. Certainly, the productivity initiatives that we have in place this year have And highly focused on cost of goods sold and labor, not as much focused on the restaurant operating expense line, but I think that areas such as to go packaging, Supplies, things like that are areas where you could tap into potentially get more efficiency on the restaurant line. And then again, I think that to your point that this quarter in particular, it was more just a product. We didn't have the same level of productivity in that line as you saw in COGS and labor, and that's why we weren't able to leverage that line as effectively as we were the other lines.

Speaker 3

And you also had to tick up a little bit in marketing.

Speaker 5

Got it. Thanks.

Operator

The next question comes from Sharon Zackfia with William Blair. Please go ahead.

Speaker 6

Hi, good morning. I know you've been seeing negative mix shift for a number of reasons, but I'm curious if you started See that abate or level off in the Q3 or into the Q4? And then as you're thinking about guidance For this quarter, I know you didn't quantify how October is doing, but I'm very cognizant of you lapping Elliot later in the quarter. So does the guidance take into account kind of a potential uplift as you lap Elliot? Or are you just kind of putting guidance out there that's Similar to where the current trend is?

Speaker 3

Yes. So I'll start with the mix piece and then we'll move on to the traffic assumptions for Q4. Menu mix was down as you start with Q3, it was down over a little over 2% in the quarter, and that's pretty consistent with what we saw in Q2. There's a piece of that we've talked about we think is consumer trade, app mix and alcohol mix are a bit lower. But the majority of that negative mix has to do with revenue shifts, which have been engineered, right?

Speaker 3

So we know these areas have such as catering, etcetera, they carry a lower check average, which has been highly influencing the mix In our numbers, now the good news is that you start to transition to Q4, we get the benefit of starting to lap some of the negative mix that we started to experience late last year. So as such, I do think we expect mix to moderate some in Q4. It will still be down, but probably down closer to the 1% to 1.5% range versus the 2% range that you've seen in the last couple of quarters. Now as it relates to traffic and the traffic assumptions and what would be embedded in the guide, I think look so the way to think about it is 1st, we've seen the improved trends in October from where we were in September. That's built in.

Speaker 3

2nd, we're lapping a fairly soft November from last Which we did call out in our Q4 call, we do get the benefit of lapping that. So that's built into the guidance as well. 3rd, there is an increased marketing presence that Dave Holiday shift, right, from the timing of Christmas holiday, it works in our favor. And why that's a little more impactful for us than maybe some others is that our brands do tend to skew a little more So that is going to have a little more of a positive impact in Q4 than maybe it might for some others. In terms of Winter Storm I think our approach is we can't really predict weather.

Speaker 3

So we know we're going to be lapping Winter Storm Elliot in Q4, but It's really not contemplated extensively in the guide because it's just as likely that you're going to have some things go the other way as well.

Speaker 6

Yes. I'll hope for a good winter. Thanks.

Operator

The next question comes from John Ivan Coe with JPMorgan. Please go ahead.

Speaker 7

Hi, thank you. There is, I guess a lot of discussion about kind of taking Outback as a brand back to its maybe its Peak, which we could argue maybe was in the early to mid-90s, I mean, where it really was a very different brand, very high average unit volumes, dinner only, In some cases, 3 hours kind of lines. I mean, it was a concept that really had a lot of excitement and just like the American populace, including your own staff. And obviously, No Rules Just Right is kind of part of that. And I understand that you kind of want to bring Outback back to some of that energy and even bring the Outback U.

Speaker 7

S. Business, maybe back to what Brazil is Today and presumably will continue to be. So long setup to the question. Now maybe I'm embarrassed to say, but I do remember that In the mid-90s, starting as an associate and Outback was always a transaction driven model at that In other words, the money was not really made on margin. It was just made on pure customer counts as the exceptional value that was given to customers and being Dinner only, of course, the PPA was higher and higher alcohol mix and some other things and it was a higher margin business than being for lunch.

Speaker 7

So the question that I'm asking Do we have an opportunity to kind of get back to that transaction driven model? And if so, Might major price investments kind of be made at the Outback business as you basically sacrifice Gross margin and you sacrifice kind of your prime costs in order to just bring more customers to get back into the store over time. In other words, Do we have an opportunity for maybe doing kind of a major brand and price reset of just kind of reestablishing Outback more from a perception of value for the customer that arguably it was 25 years ago. And hopefully, it's an okay question, Dave. Thank you, Bill.

Speaker 2

Yes, that's fine. I think clearly, John, we agree with you on getting the irreverence fund service Into the business and we're working very hard to do just that. And we talked on prior calls that one of our leading executive in Brazil is here And to help with our marketing efforts and he's going to he's doing a fabulous job, Pierre. So that's part 1. Part 2 is, it's the service and food elements That are going to win the day for us.

Speaker 2

And so making sure our service metrics are you've seen the investment in our food, John. We're investing in remodels. We're going to be very, very, very conscious of price changes at Outback, which we talked about earlier in the call today. So getting that price value back and price value is not just price, it's the value you provide to customers In service, in food, while being very thoughtful about the type of price increases you take. Now, if you look at within the menu itself, There are some really attractive price points like combo meals and like the offer we're doing right now, our Steak and Mix combo.

Speaker 2

So I think if we bring back the fun in your reference as we continue to do that, continue to improve our service levels, we've invested in the food, we've invested in technology, We're investing in our assets. We can move forward and push forward with transactions. Now as far as lunch goes, that's a very Important part of our business and I think we'll continue to offer that, but on the dinner occasion, that's exactly where we're going.

Speaker 7

Thanks for that, Dave.

Speaker 2

Yes. Thank you, John.

Operator

The next Question comes from Jeff Farmer with Gordon Haskett. Please go ahead. Yes, we are. We'll go to Sarah Senatore from Bank of America. Please go ahead.

Operator

Sorry about that.

Speaker 2

No problem.

Speaker 8

Hi, thank you. This is Catherine Griffin on for Sarah. Thanks for the question. First, I wanted to ask just about the kind of casual dining, maybe Italian category specifically. And as it relates to Carrabba's, just can you talk about any sort of additional sales layers, Whether it's dayparts, menu items that you're contemplating in order to catch up with some of the public company peers that seem to be outpacing the brand?

Speaker 8

Thank you.

Speaker 2

Well, I think Crops is doing quite well. So I'll take, if you don't mind, a little exception on that. But so I think we have a lot of white space for development. And I think we got to be careful about adding menu items and complexity in the restaurants because we want to continue to drive the service And drive it forward, but we think there's white space in development. There's a chance to continue to improve our operating metrics.

Speaker 2

There's a very strong off premises business there. There's another sales layer in our catering business, which is very easy to do because we could prepare that food in the morning and get that ready to go for our lunch business. So that sales layer is there, continued innovation in the restaurants with Providence is there. Our off premises business, which is doing so well is there. And then our new units and white space that we have with that with Carrabba's is going to be also an opportunity for us.

Speaker 2

So It really is performing well and is a growth vehicle for us going forward.

Speaker 8

Okay. Thank you. And then I guess maybe just a follow-up then on Carrabba's, just as we think about sort of the return to normal seasonality trends, what does that mean in terms of your expectations for Carrabba's catering business this holiday season?

Speaker 2

That is certainly our hope. We've tried to incorporate that in our guidance, but we are very without getting ahead of my skis here, we're very bullish On what the catering business and what the off premises looks like at Carrabba's and we've seen sales levels that they're just terrific. So It's early days. I don't want to get ahead of it, but the team has done a great job growing that business.

Speaker 8

Thank

Operator

The next question comes from Brian Vaccaro with Raymond James. Please go ahead.

Speaker 9

Hi, thanks and good morning. I guess I wanted to start on Outback specifically. And it seems like the brand's traffic relative to industry trends softened a bit in the Q3. I It depends on what indices you want to compare to. But would you agree with that assessment?

Speaker 9

And if so, I guess curious what you would attribute that to? And can you also just clarify on October, it seems like the year on year casual dining comps have improved by, say, roughly 300 basis points or so versus September. Has Outback seen a similar level of sequential improvement versus September?

Speaker 2

Yes. To answer the second question, we don't want to get into monthly comp Per se, but again, we have seen a nice trend change in October and it's incorporated in our guidance. As far as That have had some pretty significant discounting and promotions and we do not want to offer some of those deep discounts to drive traffic. We'd rather get back to some of the things we talked about earlier in the call in driving great service, great food at a great price point. We want to offer some very interesting LTOs like the one we have right now, but at the same time to go into some deep discounting, Brian, I think for the short term to make some short term goals would not make a lot of sense.

Speaker 2

So we're going to focus on the things that we talked about today.

Speaker 9

Okay. All right. Thank you for that. And Chris, on the marketing spend, what was the marketing spend in the 3rd quarter? And could you ballpark the level of spend you embedded in your 4th quarter guidance?

Speaker 3

Yes. So if you look at so marketing was up about I think 2 point $5,000,000 in Q3, put

Speaker 7

us at about

Speaker 3

$31,000,000 on the quarter. Q4, we're not going to quantify the amount that we are going to increase the spend, but I think the base for Q4 is about $24,000,000 from last year.

Speaker 9

Okay. And the $2,500,000 is that up year on year?

Speaker 3

Yes, year on year. And that's primarily in the U. S, Brian, there's actually an additional up there's additional increase in Brazil, but $2,000,000 of the $2,500,000 that we see here in the U. S. Terms of increased marketing spend is Outback and then there's another couple of $1,000,000 in Q3 that Brazil was actually up year on year.

Speaker 9

Okay. Thank you for that. And Dave, you just sort of you mentioned it for but more broadly, I think you've increased the spend Through the year at Outback, like you just said in the quarter and even maybe in Q2, but you've increased the spread the spend and the traffic doesn't seem to yet So I guess what gives you confidence that a higher level of spend can break through, so to speak? And I understand you don't want to get into deep discounts, but is part of the answer that you need some price levels on certain LTOs to move a little lower To gain traction in this current environment, it seems like your LTOs have maintained upper teens, if not into the 20s. And is that just too high of a price point in the current environment?

Speaker 2

We've got a great stake offer right now for 99 which we think holds a lot of promise and has been tested well and researched well. And we want we have other ideas like that that we want to spend behind. And when you but importantly, importantly, when you couple that with the food investments we've made and the service that we're going to continue to drive, service improvements we're going to continue to drive, which Seeing that will help drive traffic, but over the long term. But we have taken a look at some of our LTOs, Brian, and gotten to those that kind of price point I'm talking about. Yes.

Speaker 3

And the only thing I would add to that is that just in terms of deep discounts, and again, you can still use LTOs and you can use price points in LTOs, but I don't think we believe that deep discounting is where Outback plays in the spectrum of casual dining. It's a steak centric model, higher price points. It doesn't lend itself Necessarily to pursuing a customer cohort that's heavily motivated by couponing. We'll use the LTO strategy like Dave said to keep value Some windows may be more aggressive than others, but as a general strategy, we're focused on maximizing the price value equation, like Dave said, through exceptional food service and And I'll be on today at a price point that our guests are comfortable with.

Speaker 9

All right, great. And then last one for me. Just on the new tech and equipment package rollout, I wanted to confirm, is that now rolled out to all Outbacks at this point? And could you elaborate on how it's benefiting operations and maybe quantify Any of the important metrics like ticket times, table turns, cost savings you're seeing in some of the stores that are fully ramped on it and efficient? Yes.

Speaker 2

I'll talk about some of the service elements and then I'll Chris, if you want to follow-up on anything on the financial side. We're excited about the financial benefits of the equipment. But For me and for our company, it's the service and food that's really going to help. And so like steak accuracy, right? That's the number one Saying in the restaurant, it's the steak category, improving steak accuracy for our customers and the grills certainly help with that.

Speaker 2

And That's been embedded and rolled out. We're seeing improvements there. Certainly, service attentiveness, because we have the servers on the floor at all times, because they don't have to toggle Back and forth to enter the information. That's also extremely important and another measure that we're looking at very carefully. So those are just Two examples, Brian, from an operating standpoint that we're looking at.

Speaker 2

Obviously, table turns will help too, but we don't want to push the customer too fast. But the service the measure and the stake accuracy measure is extremely important for us. And I'll turn it over to Chris for any other financial comments.

Speaker 3

Well, yes, the only thing I would say is, when we started this year, we targeted like $50,000,000 of productivity benefits For the year, we've actually had to increase that number. We're up closer to $55,000,000 for the full year and a lot of that increase is due to the fact that we're seeing very strong effectiveness of the technology that we're putting into the restaurants. In terms of benefits, again, a lot of the $50,000,000 is incorporated in that. You certainly are seeing improved ratios of servers to tables in terms of the front of house technology that's driving benefit financially. In the back of the house, we've effectively reduced the amount of recooks, that to a very, very record low number.

Speaker 3

Our food waste is now at a record low number. So look, this whole package really works. It really helps Benefit the entire P and L. But importantly, looking just beyond just the productivity aspect of this, Brian, I do believe that again, when we talk about Building a business that is maximizing the price value equation with exceptional food, service, ambiance, etcetera, All of these investments are not just layers to drive productivity, but they are also layers to drive future guest frequency When you have a great it's not this business as we learn time and time again is not that terribly complicated. When you provide excellent service at a great value to a guest, They want to come back and that's what this technology really at its core is designed to do.

Speaker 3

It does take time to see given The amount of frequency that our guests come into the restaurant that takes time to show up in traffic. But boy, I'll tell you, it certainly is something that we're confident that will build traffic over the long term.

Speaker 9

All right. Thank you very much. I'll turn it back over.

Operator

Those are all the questions we have for today. I would like to turn the conference back over to David Deno for any closing remarks.

Speaker 2

Thank you, everyone. Thanks for attending the call today. We look forward to talking to you on our Q4 call. Have a great day.

Operator

The conference has now concluded. Thank you for attending today's presentation. You may now disconnect.

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Earnings Conference Call
Columbia Sportswear Q3 2023
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