Benihana Shares Drop After Weak 2Q Sales Results

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Shares of restaurant company Benihana Inc. fell Wednesday, a day after the company said sales at its restaurants open at least a year fell 9.9 percent in its fiscal second quarter.

Benihana owns and operates its namesake teppanyaki restaurants as well as Haru sushi and RA Sushi restaurants. Its shares fell 30 cents, or 4.3 percent, to $6.61 in afternoon trading.

The company said Tuesday that its traditional Benihana restaurants had a 12.2 percent drop at stores open at least a year in its second quarter that ended Oct. 11.

CEO Richard Stockinger said the results were "disappointing even after taking into account the fact that our fiscal second quarter has historically been our softest from a revenue perspective."

The restaurant industry has been stung by the recession as cash-strapped consumers are choosing to eat at home more often.

Benihana also suspended its full-year guidance. Stockinger said the company would offer more details on its next conference call. Previous guidance had been for fiscal 2010 profit of 40 cents to 45 cents per share, KeyBanc Capital Markets analyst Brad Ludington said.