Investing.com -- Shares in Bob Evans Farms Inc (NASDAQ:BOBE) fell sharply after the Ohio-based restaurant suffered slight declines in earnings over the fourth quarter, prompting the company to offer lower-than-expected forward guidance for 2017.
For Bob Evans' fourth quarter, which ended in late-April, the company reported adjusted earnings per share of 0.48 on revenues of $345.6 million, in comparison with adjusted per share earnings of 0.56 on sales of $332.4 million over the same period a year earlier. It came as Bob Evans' comparable restaurant sales slumped 3%, amid widespread concerns with pricing and menu selection. Consequently, the company is launching a menu redesign later this summer that highlights value and aims to be more guest-friendly.
"During the quarter, we made progress redesigning our restaurant menu, improved core menu items, and focused on guest hospitality to ensure a better guest experience. The new menu, to be introduced late-August, will be more guest-friendly, preserving guest favorites at every daypart, while better highlighting value and providing each guest with more meal options and flexibility," Bob Evans CEO Saed Mohseni said in a statement. "In the interim, we introduced our summer bacon promotion late May with special bacon-themed items at every day part including a Bacon Lover's Omelet, Bacon Cheeseburger, Strawberry Bacon Salad, and a three-course Bacon-Topped Chicken Dinner."
Next week, Bob Evans will distribute a quarterly dividend of $0.34 per share on June 20 to stockholders of record at the close of business on June 6. Overall, the company completed $249 million of sale-leaseback transactions on the fiscal year, generating estimated net proceeds of $214 million. The proceeds supported $172 million of share repurchases and $112 million of debt reduction during, according to Bob Evans.
Moving forward, Bob Evans expects to report adjusted earnings per share of 2.00 to 2.15 for Fiscal Year 2017 on revenue of $1.28 to $1.33 billion. Analysts expect adjusted EPS of 2.19 on full-year sales of $1.32 billion.
Shares in Bob Evans fell 2.22 or 4.96% to 42.52 in after-hours.