Chicago Pizza & Brewery Inc. Announces the Execution of Leases On Two
Sites, the Hiring of a Chief Financial Officer and Earnings Expectations
for 2001
HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif., Jan 30, 2002 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Chicago Pizza &
Brewery Inc. (Nasdaq:CHGO) (Nasdaq:CHGOW) announced that it executed leases on
sites in Lewisville, Texas and Cupertino, Calif. today.
The Lewisville site, which is located northwest of Dallas, is expected to open
during the summer of 2002. The Cupertino site, located in the heart of Silicon
Valley in Northern California, is expected to open shortly after Lewisville.
Paul Motenko, co-CEO stated: "We have been focusing our real estate efforts on
Northern California and Texas for the past several months, and are very pleased
to be able to announce the execution of leases in these two dynamic markets. We
are anticipating a very busy and exciting second half of 2002 with the expected
opening of our Oxnard, California restaurant in the third quarter, followed
closely by these two additional units. We believe that we are still on track to
meet our objective of four to six new sites during the current year."
The company recently completed the successful opening of its Chandler, Ariz.
restaurant, its first in that state. Commented Motenko: "The strong opening at
our Chandler restaurant is particularly gratifying since it is outside our core
market of Southern California. Despite being relatively unknown in the area, the
people of Chandler appear to be very receptive to our concept. This is certainly
a good sign as we venture into other new markets."
The company also announced that C. Douglas Mitchell has joined the company as
its chief financial officer. Mitchell has an extensive background in accounting
and finance, particularly in the restaurant industry. Mitchell's experience
includes seven years with Del Taco Inc. and more than 10 years with
PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Jerry Hennessy, co-CEO, commented, "We are very pleased to have someone of
Doug's caliber as CFO. His knowledge and experience in the restaurant industry
will be invaluable in establishing and maintaining the systems necessary to
sustain an effective growth strategy."
The company also announced that it expects that estimated basic earnings per
share for 2001 will be in the low $0.30 per share range based upon a weighted
average number of shares outstanding for the year of approximately 9.5 million.
Revenues for 2001 totaled approximately $65 million, a 23% increase over 2000
revenues. Same store sales for the BJ's restaurants open more than 18 months
increased by approximately 4%. These revenue and earnings estimates are based
upon preliminary review of the company's results of operations and are subject
to adjustment. The company expects to announce its full results for the year
ended Dec. 31, 2001 by early March 2002.
Chicago Pizza & Brewery operates 27 casual dining restaurants, some of which
incorporate microbreweries. Sixteen of the BJ's restaurants are located in
Southern California, one in Boulder, Colo., four in Oregon and one in Chandler.
In addition, the company operates five Pietro's restaurants in Oregon and has a
BJ's licensing agreement with a restaurant in Lahaina, Maui. BJ's restaurants
offer customers moderate prices and tremendous value on an incredible menu that
includes deep-dish Chicago-style pizza as well as sandwiches, salads, fabulous
desserts, critically acclaimed hand-crafted beers and more.
Visit Chicago Pizza & Brewery on the Web at bjsbrewhouse.com.
Certain statements in the preceding paragraph regarding the anticipated opening
dates of new restaurants and estimated revenues and earnings and operations for
2001 and all other statements that are not purely historical constitute
"forward-looking statements" for purposes of the Securities Act of 1933 and the
Securities and Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and are intended to be covered
by the safe harbors created thereby. These forward-looking statements involve
known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause actual
results to be materially different from those projected or anticipated. Factors
that might cause such differences include, but are not limited to: (i) audit
adjustments to the company's reported revenues and earnings for 2001 (ii) the
company's ability to manage growth and conversions, (iii) construction delays,
(iv) restaurant and brewery industry competition and other such industry
considerations, (v) marketing and other limitations based on the company's
historic concentration in Southern California and the Northwest, (vi) consumer
trends, (vii) increased food costs and wages, including, without limitation, the
recent increase in the minimum wage, (viii) increased energy costs in California
and (ix) other general economic and regulatory conditions.
CONTACT: Chicago Pizza & Brewery Inc., Huntington Beach
Paul Motenko, 714/848-3747, ext. 107 |
