By Austen Hufford 

Wendy's Co. reported better-than-expected results for the year's first three months, helped by the company's value meal, stock buyback and reduced ownership of restaurants.

Still, the company's profit and revenue fell year-over-year, and Wendy's warned that this quarter's same-store sales growth would be "somewhat below" its unchanged full-year target of 3%.

The Dublin, Ohio, company also disclosed the results of a previously announced cybersecurity investigation. Wendy's said the point-of-sale system at fewer than 300 of its stores were breached with malware, resulting in unusual credit-card activity. The investigation also found about 50 franchise restaurants that are suspected of having unrelated cybersecurity issues.

Shares of Wendy's slipped 1.6% to $11 in premarket trading.

Wendy's -- like other restaurant chains, including McDonald's Corp. and Burger King, a unit of Restaurant Brands International Inc. -- has sought a more stable cash flow and higher profits by selling its company-owned restaurants to franchisees.

The company cited its reduced ownership of restaurants as a reason for its lower revenue in the quarter. A 28% decline in sales revenue offset a 27% increase in franchise revenue.

Wendy's plans to sell about 315 more restaurants in the year. The company has moved from having 78% of its restaurants owned by franchisees to 85% and plans to have 95% of its restaurants franchised this year.

The company said same-restaurant sales at North American restaurants rose 3.6% in the quarter.

Wendy's said its new "4 for $4" meal, introduced nationwide in mid-October, continued to boost sales. President and Chief Financial Officer Todd Penegor said Wendy's also wants to drive growth in the "premium" parts of the business to complement the growth seen in the "value" part of the business.

Wendy's and other chains previously struggled to come up with a value offering that would resonate with customers. McDonald's launched a value meal that allows customers to pick two menu items for a total of $2. Other rivals have copied Wendy's $4 price point, including Burger King with its "5 for $4" meal and CKE Restaurants Inc.'s Hardee's and Carl's Jr. chains with their "$4 Real Deal."

Mr. Brolick previously announced plans to retire in May, to be succeeded by Mr. Penegor. In April, Wendy's said Gunther Plosch would be its next financial chief. He was most recently vice president of global business services at Kellogg Co.

For the quarter, Wendy's posted net income of $25.4 million, down from a year-earlier profit of $27.5 million.

Last year, Wendy's bought back more than $1 billion in stock, reducing the number of shares outstanding by 26%. Because of that, per-share earnings increased even as profit fell, to 9 cents from 7 cents. Excluding certain items, earnings from continuing operations were 11 cents a share, up from 6 cents a year earlier.

Revenue slipped 16% to $378.8 million, largely because of the ownership of 375 fewer company-operated restaurants in the period.

Analysts had expected 6 cents a share on revenue of $352 million, according to Thomson Reuters.

For the year, Wendy's raised its profit guidance. It now expects adjusted annual per-share earnings of 38 cents and 40 cents, up from its previous guidance of 35 cents to 37 cents. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had expected 36 cents.

Write to Austen Hufford at austen.hufford@wsj.com

 

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 11, 2016 09:31 ET (13:31 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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