San Diego, Ca,—June 18, 2002—This morning, Jack in the Box Inc. (NYSE:JBX) raised its earnings forecasts for the third quarter to 60 cents per share, a 3 cents rise for earlier estimates. The company also raised its earnings forecast for the entire year, despite a 1.1 percent drop in sales during the four-week quarter ended on June 9th.
Jack in Box remains confident of its earnings potential primarily because the company came to a favorable resolution of a long-standing tax matter and experienced a slight increase in restaurant conversions to franchisees. The company also cited expected improvements in sales and restaurant operating margins, additional gains from franchise conversions and the lower income tax rate as justification for its projection of
For the fiscal year ending in September, these same factors, along with improvements in restaurant operating margin, are expected to increase earnings per share to $2.39 from the earlier forecast of $2.27, the company told Reuters.
“We aren’t satisfied with our current sales performance, but we do believe that the lineup of new product and marketing initiatives planned for the remainder of the year is strong and will help us build momentum,” said Robert Nugent, chairman and chief executive.
