RCI HOSPIT HOLDI : un Q4 un peu plus difficile (crise)

jdestail

30 déc. 2008 •19:50

Shares of Rick's Cabaret International, Inc. (RICK) were weaker during Tuesday's session after the Company reported financial results for fourth quarter and fiscal year ended September 30, 2008.

Fourth quarter revenues were $17.2 million, a 92.08% increase over $8.8 million in the same period last year. Q4 EPS was $0.14 versus $0.18 in Q4 of 2007.

Consolidated total revenues for fiscal 2008 were $59.93 million, compared to $32.01 million for the previous year, an increase of 87.2%. The Company reported FY08 EPS of $0.91 for the year, compared with $0.50 in 2007.

Eric Langan, President and CEO of Rick's, commented in a conference call, "Our key revenue drivers were the strong performance of our Rick's Cabaret-New York City, the contributions from our acquisitions and our Media division. We saw very strong same store sales growth in FY08 of 14.6%."

He explained, "Our new clubs are underperforming from our original projections, but we are building market share at our strong clubs. Our New York club had a record week during the week before Christmas. We expect to see continued growth at that location. We will continue to look to acquire clubs in major metro areas with high business, convention and tourist traffic. We will purchase at 3-5 times earnings and be very selective. We will also use cash and debt for these acquisitions and not use stock at these current prices."

Mr. Langan continued, "In this current quarter of 2009, October was strong, with November and December slightly weaker. We have implemented an aggressive marketing campaign and expect our New York City location to see record revenues in Q1. Our Las Vegas market continues to be weak and hard to project. Our goals for 2009 include a focus on strong organic growth. We will seek to pay down debt and build our cash position. We will take advantage of 'flight to quality' in this down economy by leveraging our market strengths and investing in market share."

He concluded, "We want to play strong defense in 2009 by taking steps to stop losses at certain clubs. We may even close or sell a couple of underperforming locations. We are optimistic that as the economy recovers, we will emerge stronger and better positioned than our competitors. Due to current uncertain economic conditions, we do not have a strong enough level of comfort to give 2009 guidance. However, we do feel that we will exceed 2008 revenues and EPS numbers."