Bloomin’ exec says Covid-19 not impacting Florida sales
July 27, 2020 - The escalation of Covid-19 cases in Florida has not had a material impact on comparable store sales at restaurants in the Bloomin' Brands portfolio. "Month-to-date, July comp sales in Florida have been roughly in line with the balance of the system. In addition, we have seen little change in Florida trends from where we were in June," said Chris Meyer, executive vice president and chief financial officer of Bloomin' Brands (Nasdaq: BLMN), the Tampa-based company whose brands include Outback Steakhouse, Bonefish Grill, Carrabba's Italian Grill and Fleming's Prime Steakhouse. Twenty-one percent of company-owned restaurants are in Florida, so Bloomin' is paying close attention to the state. Meyer spoke on a conference call with analysts, after Bloomin' reported a net loss of $92.3 million, or $1.05 a share, on revenue of $578.5 million for the 13 weeks ended June 28. Despite the Florida results, Bloomin's revenue was down 43 percent from the same quarter a year ago, when the company reported net income of $29 million.