Darden Restaurants Inc. said Friday that its fiscal first-quarter net income rose 4 percent even as it struggled to grow a key revenue figure at its flagship Olive Garden and Red Lobster chains.
Its earnings beat Wall Street expectations, and its shares rose more than 4 percent in premarket trading. At Olive Garden, the company’s biggest chain, Darden has been trying to increase sales by retooling its marketing message and updating its menu. Although traffic at established restaurants declined during the quarter, the company said a key sales figure edged up 0.3 percent on higher prices.
At Red Lobster, sales at restaurants open at least a year fell 2.6 percent as traffic declined. The sales metric is a key indicator of health because it strips out the impact of newly opened and closed locations. Read more >>
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