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To: Perspective who wrote (99490)	1/9/2008 6:38:53 PM
From: patron_anejo_por_favor	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 306849

I hate the airlines. They're all dead companies walking (except perhaps LUV). They shoulda let 'em all go BK after 911 instead of the corporate welfare ploy. Peak Oil will be the coup de grace. The airline industry in the US is horribly wasteful, we need to find a more fuel efficient means of moving people (AKA "railroads"....)<NFG>

To: Perspective who wrote (99490)	1/16/2008 12:03:18 PM
From: Smiling Bob	Respond to of 306849

DJ IHOP Sees Possible Shortfall In Franchising Applebee's Units . By Richard Gibson Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES IHOP Corp. (IHP) predicted Wednesday a possible shortfall in anticipated proceeds from franchising company-owned Applebee's restaurants. Updating investors on its turnaround plans for the nation's largest bar-and-grill chain, Chief Financial Officer Tom Conforti told an investors' conference that "we think we will fall a little short due to some erosion of company stores" in recent months. "We don't consider it to be a material financial issue," he added, vowing that IHOP would "seek to get every dollar of proceeds that we can." As part of its strategy to pay for Applebee's acquisition, IHOP plans to franchise about 475 restaurants. Besides transactions with current Applebee's franchisees, the company said it is looking at possible deals with unnamed private-equity buyers. Management also expects to complete the sale-leaseback of about 200 company-owned Applebee's units as well as the brand's Overland Park, Kan., headquarters in this and the next quarter. "We're optimistic that proceeds will be in the ballpark of what we first thought," Conforti said of the sale-leasebacks. Chief Executive Julia Stewart told the conference, which was Webcast, that Applebee's was an "under-managed, under-leveraged brand." She said some "heavy lifting," including the re-engineering of Applebee's menu and food, will be required to achieve a turnaround. "The food quality is not what it used to be," she said, referring to her time at Applebee's earlier in the decade, before she left to run IHOP. Stewart also said she was working with some of Applebee's 43 franchisees in a "skunkworks" to contemplate Applebee's "next generation." Shares of IHOP were trading recently at $43.3, up 3 cents, or 0.8. -By Richard Gibson; Dow Jones Newswires; 515-282-6830; dick.gibson@dowjones.com (END) Dow Jones Newswires January 16, 2008 11:57 ET (16:57 GMT) Copyright (c) 2008 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.- - 11 57 AM EST 01-16-08