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Bob Evans Farms 4Q Profit Climbs On Lower Costs

The Associated Press

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Bob Evans Farms Inc., operator of Bob Evans and Mimi's Cafe restaurants, said its fourth-quarter profit rose 31 percent, helped by the performance of its namesake restaurants and lower labor and food costs.

Late Tuesday, the company that also produces pork sausage said it earned $21.1 million, or 69 cents per share, for the quarter ended April 24 compared with $16.1 million, or 52 cents per share, a year ago.

Quarterly results were weighed down by $76.3 million in charges mostly related to a $56.2 million goodwill impairment charge for the Mimi's Cafe acquisition.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters, whose estimates generally exclude one-time items, forecast profit of 39 cents per share.

Sales dipped 1 percent to $431 million from $436.4 million, but still managed to beat Wall Street's estimate of $430.8 million.

"The Bob Evans Restaurants division continues to post impressive results due to lower cost of sales and well-controlled labor costs, despite slightly negative same-store sales," Chairman and Chief Executive Steve Davis said in a statement.

Sales at Bob Evans restaurants open at least a year, known as same-store sales, fell 1.6 percent. Mimi-Cafe same-store sales slid 7.1 percent in the quarter.

Same-store sales are a key indicator of retailer performance since they measure growth at existing stores rather than newly opened ones.

The company opened three new Mimi's Cafes and one of its namesake restaurants in the fourth quarter.

Sales at its food products division grew 1.5 percent to $76.5 million.

For the year, Bob Evans Farms lost $5.1 million, or 17 cents per share. That compares with profit of $64.9 million, or $1.95 per share, in the previous year.

Annual revenue edged up 1 percent to $1.75 billion from $1.74 billion.

The company expects a fiscal 2010 sales increase of 1.5 percent to 2 percent.

Bob Evans Farms maintained that it will build new Bob Evans restaurants and just two Mimi's Cafes in its 2010 fiscal year. The company also reaffirmed that it has suspended its stock buyback program until at least the fiscal third quarter of next year.

(This version CORRECTS time element in 2nd graf to Tuesday)