MTY Food Group 3Q Profit Falls on Cautious Consumers

By Adriano Marchese MTY Food Group logged a lower profit as continued sluggish demand weighed on sales across its network of quick-service restaurants. The Montreal-based quick-service restaurant franchiser on Friday posted a decline in net income to 24.8 million Canadian dollars ($17.4 million), or C$1.08 a share, for the three months ended Aug. 30, compared with C$27.9 million, or C$1.22 a share, in the comparable quarter a year ago. Adjusted earnings were C$1.26 a share. According to FactSet, analysts were expecting C$1.19 a share. Revenue fell to C$277.7 million from C$299 million, virtually in line with analyst expectations. MTY Food runs over 80 distinct banners, often seen in shopping mall food courts or as casual sit-down dining spots, such as mmmuffins, Mr. Sub or Baton Rouge. System sales, which measures the sales across all the franchiser's network, remained unchanged at C$1.5 billion. Same-store sales, which measures the performance of its existing stores from the prior-year period, decreased by 1.9%, with the U.S. market showing the greatest decline..