USA: Granite City Food & Brewery reports first quarter 2006 results

Granite City Food & Brewery Ltd. reported May 12 the results of operations for the first quarter ended March 28, 2006.

Granite City Food & Brewery Ltd. currently operates 13 Granite City Food & Brewery casual dining restaurants featuring made-from-scratch food and handcrafted beers. Its broad menu offers traditional and regional foods served in generous portions at reasonable prices, affording guests an excellent value and great dining experience. Its first Granite City opened in St. Cloud, MN in June 1999. Subsequently, the company opened restaurants in Sioux Falls, SD, Fargo, ND, Des Moines, Cedar Rapids and Davenport, IA, Lincoln, NE, Maple Grove and Eagan, MN, Wichita, Kansas City and Olathe, KS, and Kansas City, MO.

For the quarter ended March 28, 2006, total revenue was $11,892,319 compared to $7,870,335 for the first quarter of 2005, an increase of 51.1%. Comparable restaurant sales increased 5.4% in the first quarter of 2006 over the first quarter of 2005. The Company reported a net loss of ($1,646,040), or ($0.12) per share, for the quarter ended March 28, 2006, compared to a net loss of ($382,654), or ($0.03) per share, for the first quarter of 2005. Restaurant-level EBITDA(a) for all restaurants was $1,835,384, or 15.4% of sales.

Commenting on comparable restaurant sales, Steve Wagenheim, Granite City Food & Brewery's President and Chief Executive Officer stated, "The first quarter of 2006 is an important milestone for our Company in terms of providing meaningful information on our comparable restaurant sales. In the first quarter of 2005 we had only three restaurants in our comparable restaurant base which consists of restaurants that have been open for at least eighteen months. With the first quarter of 2006, we now have eight restaurants in our comparable restaurant base and as such, we are very excited about the strong 5.4% increase in our comparable restaurant sales. We anticipate we will continue to build on this sales performance as we enter our patio season and enjoy the revenues that come with additional seating during the warmer months."

"Our net loss in the first quarter was due primarily to the pre-opening costs we incurred for the two additional restaurants we opened in the Kansas City market as we continued our restaurant expansion plans, as well as the increased general and administrative expenses we have incurred as a result of building our corporate infrastructure over the last year," said Wagenheim. "We will continue to incur significant pre-opening costs during the year as we pursue our growth plans which currently include opening an additional five restaurants this year. Additionally, we would expect our general and administrative expenses to decrease as a percentage of revenues as we grow our restaurant count and as our sales increase," added Wagenheim.

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