Bob Evans Farms 4Q Profit Climbs On Lower Costs

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.