Jeff Uttz
Analyst · Morgan Stanley
Thanks, Randy.
Now turning to the results of our 13-week first quarter ended April 1, 2015. Total revenue, which includes Shack sales and licensing revenue, increased 56.3% to $37.8 million during the first quarter, from $24.2 million in the first quarter a year ago. Shack sales increased 59.2% to $36 million during the quarter, versus $22.6 million in the year-ago period. The increase was largely due to the addition of 13 domestic company-operated Shacks over the past year, as well as our stronger-than-expected same-Shack sales growth.
Same-Shack sales increased 11.7% on a calendar basis during the first quarter, versus a 3.9% increase in the same quarter last year, and this consisted of a 2.1% increase in traffic, combined with a 9.6% increase in price and mix. We attribute our stronger-than-anticipated performance to menu price increases that were taken in September 2014 and January 2015 to partially offset higher commodity costs; the temporary closure of our Madison Square Park Shack, which is providing a lift to the other Manhattan Shacks, which make up a significant portion of our small comp base; the reintroduction of crinkle-cut fries; and lastly, the limited offering of our ShackMeister Burger.
As a reminder, our comparable Shack base includes those Shacks that are open for 24 months or longer, which we feel is the best comparison, given the long honeymoon periods of the new Shacks.
The comparable restaurant base in the first quarter of 2015 only included 13 Shacks versus 9 Shacks in the first quarter of 2014. Average weekly sales for domestic company-operated Shacks increased 7.2% to $89,000 for the first quarter of 2015, from $83,000 in the same quarter last year, primarily driven by menu price increases, positive shifts in mix from menu innovation and strong performance from several Shacks opened in the second half of 2014, including the Shacks in Las Vegas and Chicago.
Despite the performance in Q1, we continue to expect our average weekly sales over the long term to decline as we continue to open more target volume Shacks.
Licensing revenue increased 13.2% to $1.8 million during the first quarter, from $1.6 million a year ago, driven by the opening of 8 international licensed Shacks and one domestic licensed Shack over the past year.
Let's turn now to the expenses for the quarter. Food and paper costs as a percentage of Shack sales remained constant at 30.5% compared to the prior year, beating our expectations. Higher commodity costs, particularly beef, were partially offset by the previously mentioned menu price increases. That, coupled with lower dairy costs, provided better-than-expected margins on food and paper during Q1.
Looking ahead, we expect continued pressure on beef prices and as a result, anticipate overall commodity inflation to remain at elevated levels for the remainder of the year and into 2016. Therefore, we continue to project inflated food and paper costs over last year throughout the remainder of 2015.
Labor and related expenses as a percentage of Shack sales were 25.2%, a reduction of 240 basis points compared to the prior year. This was as a result of higher Shack sales. However, over the next few years, we continue to expect deleverage on the labor line as target volume Shacks make up a larger percentage of the base and as minimum wage increases continue to pressure the industry moving forward.
Occupancy and related expenses, as a percentage of Shack sales, increased 40 basis points to 8.8% versus the prior year, driven by higher contingent rent and real estate taxes.
Shack-level operating profit, a non-GAAP measure, grew 78.3% to $9.3 million, from $5.2 million last year, mostly due to the flow-through captured on higher Shack sales. As a percentage of Shack sales, Shack-level operating margins increased roughly 270 basis points to 25.7%, as we leverage labor and other operating expenses. That said, we remain focused on the long-term expectation that new target volume Shacks will reduce overall company-operated Shack AUVs and also Shack-level operating margins.
General and administrative expenses increased $15 million to $18.4 million during the first quarter of 2015, from $3.4 million for the same quarter in 2014. As a percentage of total revenue, G&A increased to 48.6% from 13.9% in the prior year. This increase was primarily due to $12.8 million of nonrecurring compensation expenses related to the IPO and also $600,000 of incremental IPO-related expenses. Excluding these expenses, G&A would have been 13% of total revenue for the quarter.
Adjusted EBITDA, a non-GAAP measure, grew 94% to $7 million in the first quarter, compared to $3.6 million in the prior year period. As a percent of total revenues, adjusted EBITDA margin increased roughly 360 basis points to 18.5% for the first quarter.
We reported a net loss of $12.7 million or $1.06 per diluted share for the first quarter of 2015, compared to net income of $1.1 million or $0.04 per diluted unit for the same period last year. The net loss for the first quarter of 2015 includes approximately $13.2 million of onetime after-tax expenses that were incurred in connection with our IPO.
On an adjusted pro forma basis, which excludes nonrecurring items and assumes that all of the outstanding LLC interests were exchanged for Class A common stock, whereby we would no longer present a noncontrolling interest, we earned $1.3 million or $0.04 per fully exchanged and diluted share, compared to $600,000 or $0.02 per fully exchanged and diluted share in the first quarter last year.
Now following these first quarter results, we'd like to provide the following key metrics with respect to our full year fiscal 2015 outlook. We expect total revenue to be between $161 million and $165 million. Also, taking into account the performance in Q1, same-Shack sales are expected to increase low to mid-single digits for the full year. We remain cautious in our full year guidance in light of a number of factors contributing to the recent strength that are not expected to continue, including the price raises taken in Q4 of 2014 and Q1 of 2015, the return of crinkle-cut fries and the lift in sales following our IPO.
We also expect that the reopening of our flagship Madison Square Park Shack could potentially cannibalize our other Manhattan Shacks, which have benefited since its closure in 2014. And as a reminder, we currently only have 13 Shacks making up our comp base. Our development plan for 2015 remains on track for 10 new domestic company-operated Shacks opening throughout the year and 5 internationally licensed Shacks.
With that, I would like to turn the call back over to Randy for some final points.