Panera Bread Company reported that net income for the 12 weeks ended December 29, 2001, rose 101 percent to $4,755,000, or $0.32 per diluted share, from $2,369,000 or $0.17 per diluted share (excluding a non-recurring after-tax charge of $608,000 related to the sale of the Au Bon Pain Business Unit) for the 13 weeks ended December 30, 2000.

Including the non-recurring charge related to the sale of the Au Bon Pain Business Unit, net income was $1,761,000, or $0.13 per diluted share, for the 13 weeks ended December 30, 2000. Net income for the 52 weeks ended December 29, 2001, increased 92% to $13,152,000, or $0.91 per diluted share, from $6,853,000, or $0.52 per diluted share, for the 53 weeks ended December 30, 2000.

Total revenue increased to $55.7 million for the 12 weeks ended December 29, 2001, which represented a 31 percent increase over the total revenue of $42.6 million for the 13 weeks ended December 30, 2000. For the 52 weeks ended December 29, 2001, total revenue was $201.1 million. This represented a 33 percent increase over the total revenues of $151.4 million for the 53 weeks ended December 30, 2000.

Systemwide sales increased 43 percent to $146.8 million for the 12 weeks ended December 29, 2001, compared to $102.9 million for the 13 weeks ended December 30, 2000. For the 52 weeks ended December 29, 2001, system-wide sales increased 51 percent to $529.4 million compared to $350.8 million for the 53 weeks ended December 30, 2000.

Systemwide comparable bakery-cafe sales increased 6.3 p ercent for the 12 weeks ended December 29, 2001 (6.4% for company-owned and 6.2 percent for franchised bakery-cafes). This marks the 24th consecutive quarter that Panera Bread (on a stand-alone basis) has reported positive comparable company bakery-cafe sales. For the 52 weeks ended December 29, 2001, system-wide comparable bakery-cafe sales increased 5.8 percent (5.8 percent for company-owned and 5.8 percent for franchised bakery-cafes).

During the 12 weeks ended December 29, 2001, 39 new Panera Bread bakery-cafes were opened (7 company-owned and 32 franchised bakery-cafes). For the 52 weeks ended December 29, 2001, a total of 109 new bakery-cafes were opened (21 company-owned and 88 franchised bakery-cafes). As of December 29, 2001, there were 369 (110 company-owned and 259 franchised bakery-cafes) Panera Bread bakery-cafes operating in 30 states. The total number of active additional franchise commitments as of December 29, 2001, was 518.

Average weekly system-wide sales for the 12 weeks ended December 29, 2001, were $35,550 per week (excluding the three specialty bakery-cafes). This is a 9.2% increase over the $32,560 average per week (excluding the four specialty bakery-cafes) for the 13 weeks ended December 30, 2000. There were 4,125 operating weeks (excluding the three specialty bakery-cafes) in the 12 weeks ended December 29, 2001, compared to 3,134 (excluding the four specialty bakery-cafes) in the 13 weeks ended December 30, 2000.

For the 52 weeks ended December 29, 2001, average system-wide weekly sales (excluding the three specialty
bakery-cafes) were $33,608 ($1,748,000 annualized). This is an 8.4% increase over the average weekly sales (excluding the four specialty bakery-cafes) of $31,004 ($1,612,000 annualized on a 52 week basis) for the 53 weeks ended December 30, 2000. There were 15,719 operating weeks (excluding the three specialty bakery-cafes) for the 52 weeks ended December 29, 2001 compared to 11,175 operating weeks (excluding the four specialty bakery-cafes) in the 53 weeks ended December 30, 2000.

For the 109 bakery-cafes opened during fiscal year 2001, the average weekly sales were $36,674 or $1,907,000 on an annualized basis. There were 2,371 operating weeks for the bakery-cafes that were opened in fiscal year 2001.

Ron Shaich, chairman and CEO, said, “We are extremely pleased with our fourth quarter and full year 2001 results. We significantly exceeded the earnings per share and development targets we set at the beginning of the year ($0.75 per share and 84 bakery-cafes). Our earnings per share were up 75 percent in 2001 on top of the 126 percent increase in 2000 for Panera Bread on a standalone basis. We are particularly pleased that not only did we significantly exceed our targets, but we did so while increasing the average unit volumes of the 109 new bakery-cafes we built in 2001 to $1.9 million and while delivering 5.8 percent comparable store sales increases in existing bakery-cafes. We believe that these results are representative of the strong and growing positive consumer reaction to the Panera brand across America and speak to the potential for continued earnings expansion going
forward.”

Shaich said the company is increasing its 2002 development target to 110 bakery-cafes (22 company-owned and 88 franchised bakery-cafes).