Julia A. Stewart
Analyst · Goldman Sachs
Thanks, Ken. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us on DineEquity's first quarter 2013 earnings call. This quarter marks the start of our first fiscal year since completing the Applebee's refranchising program in October 2012. After ending last year on a strong note, we started 2013 by delivering solid results. Additionally, we announced our capital allocation strategy, which returned significant free cash flow to our shareholders through the combination of a meaningful first quarter dividend, $0.75 per share of common stock and $100 million of share repurchase authorization. We also completed the repricing of our senior secured debt and modified the debt covenants to lower interest costs and provide increased flexibility. Our proactive G&A restructuring last year resulted in a 14% reduction compared to the first quarter of 2012, and our highly-franchised business model generated a 34% increase in free cash flow. We paid out over $14 million in cash dividends in the first quarter, and we're working hard to drive consistent and sustainable same-restaurant sales and traffic at both of our brands. Looking forward, we will continue to manage our capital structure with a long-term view and maintain a strong balance sheet while emphasizing the importance of positioning the company to potentially refinance our overall debt in the next few years. Now, the first quarter was uneven, as others in the industry have noted. And while we don't normally discuss the economy, the industry was clearly faced with macroeconomic headwinds, which contributed to viability and variability in the quarter. The environment definitely impacted the consumer and had some effect on domestic system-wide same-restaurant sales at both brands. The duration of the residual effect is difficult to gauge and consumer confidence remains mixed. I'd now like to provide a brief review of the first quarter and then I'll let Tom discuss the financial details. I'll start with IHOP. As I've shared with you before, I am confident in our strategy, our executive team and especially, our franchisees. We will continue to execute on our plan in order to achieve consistent and sustainable same-restaurant sales and traffic growth. As a reminder, the 4 key pillars of our plan to drive improved performance are differentiating our menu, providing better value, strengthening our advertising and media and consistently achieving operations excellence, all of which are designed to make our franchisees more profitable. The changes necessary to achieve each of these are gradual, but we are making progress. Remember that as a 99% franchise company, fluctuations in same-restaurant sales have less impact on our bottom line. However, we are very focused on improving franchisee sales and profitability for the long-term health of our business. IHOP's domestic system-wide same-restaurant sales mark an improvement from the last 3 sequential quarters, down slightly by 0.5%. Even though we outperformed the family dining category overall in the first quarter, this is not acceptable, and I will continue to challenge the team and the franchisees to reach our goal. Frankly, we are driving changes rapidly as we can effectively execute at this time. On advertising and marketing. In the first quarter, we continued to refine our strategy as demonstrated by the innovative TV spots in support of our successful promotion, All You Can Eat Pancakes, as well as the recent commercial filmed at Times Square for our new line of breakfast sandwiches, Griddle Melts, which is superior in quality and taste. Recognizing that we previously did not have a line of breakfast sandwiches to compete in this category, we conducted comprehensive research before introducing Griddle Melts. In fact, this new offering is a great example of us being relevant to our guests. In addition, it reflects the next level of creative innovation. Our breakfast sandwiches, in my humble opinion, are simply the best in the industry. I encourage all of you on the call today to visit an IHOP and see for yourself. IHOP's menu is key to our success. And so we introduced in January the first of 3 new menus planned for this year. The second launch is scheduled for June 1 and the third is slated for late 2013. Our strategy is to simplify the ordering process by improving the overall layout while celebrating our food with improved mouthwatering photography, significantly reduce the number of menu items offered over time that lessen complexity and most importantly, introduce new and exciting menu offerings and categories. We're in the early stages of the execution on our new menu strategy, but we are confident in our plan. And to accelerate our menu innovation, we brought on a new head of menu development and innovation, who has extensive background in the casual dining space. We are very excited about the influence that she will have in the development of a pipeline of products, that only IHOP could deliver, further strengthening our iconic brand's position in family dining. Regarding innovation and value. Late last month, IHOP announced the introduction of its latest breakfast innovation, Brioche French Toast. This next generation of French toast comes in 3 delicious and distinctively new flavors, which I'm sure our guests will enjoy. The item is just one of the many new signature dishes and categories IHOP will launch in 2013. On IHOP's gift card sales. The gift card program remains an important part of our marketing strategy and we're seeing continued interest. For the first quarter, IHOP's gift card sales increased by 17% from 1 year ago. And as I've said before, we are paying attention to every part of this business. With that, let's shift to Applebee's results for the first quarter. Regarding same-restaurant sales. domestic system-wide same-restaurant sales were down 1.3% in the first quarter. Sales were impacted by a decrease in traffic due in part to the bumpy environment I mentioned earlier. And while it is clear that the casual dining space faced headwinds, we will not allow macro conditions to dictate our results. We are working to restore Applebee's same-restaurant sales and traffic momentum by differentiating the brand through innovative and creative advertising, testing new technology platforms and providing a broad array of craveable menu items that will entice repeat visits. On value in the menu. Value is a competitive factor in this space and we continue to see an aggressive emphasis among the competition. We are working to address this across each day part and provide a signature Applebee's dining experience you just simply can't get anywhere else. In February, we refreshed our popular 2 for $20 value offering with the inclusion of 2 new dishes inspired by New Orleans-style cuisine. 2 for $20 continued to perform well. Refining our menu is an important part of the dining experience for our guests. Additionally, we are testing new health and wellness options that are nutritionally responsible without sacrificing taste. On the remodel program. Applebee's franchisees remodeled 40 restaurants in the first quarter. At the end of the quarter, 54% of the domestic systems have the new revitalized look and we project that approximately 70% of the system will have the updated look by the end of this year. Regarding Applebee's gift card sales. Sales increased 15% compared to the first quarter of 2012, with gift cards, reflecting the strong affinity guests have for the brand. The close, we are optimistic about the hard work on the IHOP menu coming to fruition and while we've not yet achieved our goal, the team and I and the franchisees are committed to making the changes necessary to get the business back on track. And at Applebee's, we have a proven strategy in place and we are building on it. We are streamlining the core menu and focusing on innovative ways to drive consistent sales and traffic growth. With that, I'd like to turn the call over to Tom Emrey, our CFO, for a discussion of our first quarter results. Tom?