Bloomin’ Brands Announces 2021 Q4 Financial Results with Strong Operating Margin Expansion

Q4 Diluted EPS of $0.59 and Adjusted Diluted EPS of $0.60

Q4 Comparable Restaurant Sales Growth of 20.7% at Outback Steakhouse and 27.9% Combined U.S.

Reinstates Quarterly Dividend and Authorizes New $125 Million Share Repurchase Program

Provides Full Year 2022 Financial Outlook

TAMPA, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 18, 2022-- Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. (Nasdaq: BLMN) today reported results for the fourth quarter 2021 (“Q4 2021”) and fiscal year ended December 26, 2021 (“Fiscal Year 2021”) compared to the fourth quarter 2020 (“Q4 2020”) and fiscal year ended December 27, 2020 (“Fiscal Year 2020”).

CEO Comments

“Q4 was another quarter of strong results with significant sales, margin and earnings growth,” said David Deno, Chief Executive Officer. “Over the past year we executed against our strategy resulting in sustained gains in off-premises, higher digital engagement, and improved operational efficiencies in the restaurants. As we move into 2022 we are well positioned to deliver on our long-term goals of growing sales and maximizing total shareholder return.”

Diluted EPS and Adjusted Diluted EPS

The following tables reconcile Diluted earnings (loss) per share attributable to common stockholders to Adjusted diluted earnings (loss) per share for the periods indicated:

Fourth Quarter Financial Results

• The increase in Total revenues was primarily due to: (i) higher comparable restaurant sales from recovery of in-restaurant dining from the significantly reduced levels in 2020 after the onset of the pandemic and strong retention of off-premises sales, (ii) higher franchise revenues and (iii) the net impact of restaurant openings and closures.

• Restaurant-level operating margin increased primarily due to higher comparable restaurant sales from in-restaurant dining and strong retention of off-premises sales, and higher franchise revenues. These increases were partially offset by higher labor costs and commodity inflation and higher utilities, operating and rent expense.

• Operating income margin increased due to an increase in restaurant-level operating margin as described above and 2020 asset impairment charges related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Adjusted operating income excludes the impact of charges related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Fourth Quarter Comparable Restaurant Sales

Fourth quarter U.S. comparable restaurant sales results increased 27.9% versus 2020 and 5.3% on a two-year basis given strong retention of off-premises sales. During the quarter we chose not to replicate the significant promotional activity from 2019 at Outback Steakhouse given the evolving consumer environment. As expected, we saw a significant increase in Outback Steakhouse comparable restaurant sales once we lapped this activity in mid-November.

The following table includes Company-owned comparable restaurant sales for the fourth quarter ended December 26, 2021 relative to 2019 and 2020:

Reinstated Quarterly Dividend and Share Repurchase Authorization

On February 8, 2022, our Board of Directors reinstated a quarterly dividend and declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.14 per share to be paid on March 16, 2022 to all stockholders of record as of the close of business on March 2, 2022.

On February 8, 2022, our Board of Directors approved a $125 million share repurchase program. This authorization will expire on August 9, 2023.

Fiscal 2022 Financial Outlook

The tables below present our expectations for selected 2022 financial reporting and operating results. Our outlook assumes no additional significant business interruptions related to COVID-19:

Q1 2022 Financial Outlook

The table below presents our expectations for selected fiscal Q1 2022 operating results. Our outlook assumes no additional business interruptions related to COVID-19:

Conference Call

The Company will host a conference call today, February 18, 2022 at 8:15 AM EST. The conference call will be webcast live from the Company’s website at http://www.bloominbrands.com under the Investors section. A replay of this webcast will be available on the Company’s website after the call.

Non-GAAP Measures

In addition to the results provided in accordance with GAAP, this press release and related tables include certain non-GAAP measures, which present operating results on an adjusted basis. These are supplemental measures of performance that are not required by or presented in accordance with GAAP and include the following: (i) Adjusted restaurant-level operating margin, (ii) Adjusted income (loss) from operations and the corresponding margin, (iii) Adjusted net income (loss), (iv) Adjusted diluted earnings (loss) per share, (v) Adjusted segment restaurant-level operating margin, (vi) Adjusted segment income (loss) from operations and the corresponding margin and (vii) Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (“EBITDA”).

We believe that our use of non-GAAP financial measures permits investors to assess the operating performance of our business relative to our performance based on GAAP results and relative to other companies within the restaurant industry by isolating the effects of certain items that may vary from period to period without correlation to core operating performance or that vary widely among similar companies. However, our inclusion of these adjusted measures should not be construed as an indication that our future results will be unaffected by unusual or infrequent items or that the items for which we have made adjustments are unusual or infrequent or will not recur. We believe that the disclosure of these non-GAAP measures is useful to investors as they form part of the basis for how our management team and Board of Directors evaluate our operating performance, allocate resources and administer employee incentive plans.

These non-GAAP financial measures are not intended to replace GAAP financial measures, and they are not necessarily standardized or comparable to similarly titled measures used by other companies. We maintain internal guidelines with respect to the types of adjustments we include in our non-GAAP measures. These guidelines endeavor to differentiate between types of gains and expenses that are reflective of our core operations in a period, and those that may vary from period to period without correlation to our core performance in that period. However, implementation of these guidelines necessarily involves the application of judgment, and the treatment of any items not directly addressed by, or changes to, our guidelines will be considered by our disclosure committee. You should refer to the reconciliations of non-GAAP measures in tables five, six, seven, ten and eleven included later in this release for descriptions of the actual adjustments made in the current period and the corresponding prior period.

About Bloomin’ Brands, Inc.

Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. is one of the largest casual dining restaurant companies in the world with a portfolio of leading, differentiated restaurant concepts. The Company has four founder-inspired brands: Outback Steakhouse, Carrabba’s Italian Grill, Bonefish Grill and Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar. The Company operates more than 1,450 full-service restaurants and off-premises only kitchens in 47 states, Guam and 17 countries, some of which are franchise locations. For more information, please visit www.bloominbrands.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements contained herein, including statements under the headings “CEO Comments”, “Fiscal 2022 Financial Outlook” and “Q1 2022 Financial Outlook” are not based on historical fact and are “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Generally, these statements can be identified by the use of words such as “guidance,” “believes,” “estimates,” “anticipates,” “expects,” “on track,” “feels,” “forecasts,” “seeks,” “projects,” “intends,” “plans,” “may,” “will,” “should,” “could,” “would” and similar expressions intended to identify forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain these identifying words. These forward-looking statements include all matters that are not historical facts. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from the Company’s forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to: consumer reaction to public health and food safety issues; the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and uncertainties about its depth and duration, as well as the impacts to economic conditions and consumer behavior, including, among others: the inability of workers, including delivery drivers, to work due to illness, quarantine, or government mandates, temporary restaurant closures and capacity restrictions due to reduced workforces or government mandates, the unemployment rate, the extent, availability and effectiveness of any COVID-19 stimulus packages or loan programs, the ability of our franchisees to operate their restaurants during the pandemic and pay royalties, and trends in consumer behavior and spending during and after the end of the pandemic; increases in labor costs and fluctuations in the availability of employees; increases in unemployment rates and taxes; price and availability of commodities; competition; local, regional, national and international economic conditions; our ability to preserve the value of and grow our brands; interruption or breach of our systems or loss of consumer or employee information; our dependence on a limited number of suppliers and distributors; legal conditions in international markets and their effects on foreign operations and foreign currency exchange rates; government actions and policies; the effects of changes in tax laws; changes in patterns of consumer traffic, consumer tastes and dietary habits; challenges associated with our remodeling, relocation and expansion plans; consumer confidence and spending patterns; political, social and the seasonality of the Company’s business; weather, acts of God and other disasters; compliance with debt covenants and the Company’s ability to make debt payments and planned investments; the cost and availability of credit; interest rate changes; and any impairments in the carrying value of goodwill and other assets. Further information on potential factors that could affect the financial results of the Company and its forward-looking statements is included in its most recent Form 10-K and subsequent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Company assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement, except as may be required by law. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this release. All forward-looking statements are qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement.

Note: Numerical figures included in this release have been subject to rounding adjustments.

Restaurant-level Operating Margin Adjustments - Following is a summary of (favorable) unfavorable restaurant-level operating margin adjustments recorded in Other restaurant operating expense (unless otherwise noted below) for the following activities, as described in table six of this release for the periods indicated:

Following is a summary of the financial statement line item classification of the Net income (loss) adjustments:

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Mark Graff
SVP, Financial Planning and Investor Relations
(813) 830-5311

Source: Bloomin’ Brands, Inc.