Oklahoma City-based Sonic Corp., the nation's largest chain of drive-in restaurants, announced Oct. 20 results for the fourth quarter and fiscal year ended Aug. 31.

"The past quarter and year have been challenging for us," Clifford Hudson, Chairman and CEO, said. "While sales performance is not where we would like it to be, we do feel positive about our ability to maintain traffic at a relatively flat level. Given the level of consumer confidence and the state of the restaurant industry, we think this is a notable achievement.”

For the fourth quarter ended Aug. 31, revenues declined 23 percent to $173.8 million from $226.9 million in the year-earlier period. Net income for the quarter was $16.9 million or $0.28 per diluted share, declining 17 percent and 15 percent, respectively, from $20.2 million or $0.33 per diluted share in the same quarter last year. Excluding special items, detailed below, earnings per share were $0.29 for the fourth quarter in fiscal 2009 compared with $0.31 in the prior-year period.

For the fiscal year, revenues declined 11 percent to $718.8 million from $804.7 million in the prior year. Net income on a year-to-date basis was $49.4 million or $0.81 per diluted share compared with $60.3 million or $0.97 per diluted share for the comparable period last year. Excluding special items, detailed below, earnings per share were $0.72 for fiscal 2009 compared with $0.94 for fiscal 2008.

YEAR END
During the year ended Aug. 31, the company recognized pre-tax gains from refranchising partner drive-ins totaling $13.2 million and a $6.4 million gain from the purchase of debt at a discount, which were partially offset by pre-tax impairment charges totaling $11.2 million.

Key aspects of the company's fourth quarter report included:

• Net income per diluted share for the quarter totaled $0.28 versus $0.33 in the year-earlier quarter
• System-wide new drive-in openings totaled 41 compared with 58 in the fourth quarter last year, reflecting primarily the company's recent decision to slow partner drive-in development in conjunction with its refranchising initiative; franchisees opened 40 drive-ins versus 45 drive-ins in the same period last year
• The refranchising of 11 partner drive-ins during the quarter; these transactions bring to 205 the total number of drive-ins refranchised during fiscal 2009

"Clearly, the past year has been a period of rebuilding," Hudson said. "We are pleased with the concrete steps we have taken to strengthen our sales and operating performance over time, and move our brand forward in difficult times. We believe these steps will position us for improved sales and operational performance as consumer discretionary spending improves."