The Chefs Warehouse, Inc (CHEF) has reported 37.37 percent jump in profit for the quarter ended Dec. 30, 2016. The company has earned $9.14 million, or $0.34 a share in the quarter, compared with $6.66 million, or $0.25 a share for the same period last year.
Revenue during the quarter grew 17 percent to $342.90 million from $293.09 million in the previous year period. Gross margin for the quarter contracted 32 basis points over the previous year period to 25.97 percent. Total expenses were 93.47 percent of quarterly revenues, down from 94.86 percent for the same period last year. This has led to an improvement of 139 basis points in operating margin to 6.53 percent.
Operating income for the quarter was $22.40 million, compared with $15.07 million in the previous year period.
However, the adjusted EBITDA for the quarter stood at $19.92 million compared with $20.76 million in the prior year period. At the same time, adjusted EBITDA margin contracted 127 basis points in the quarter to 5.81 percent from 7.08 percent in the last year period.
“We continued to show very strong and consistent growth in our business during the fourth quarter. We also continued to make great progress in our protein businesses as margins improved in line with expectations,” said Chris Pappas, chairman and chief executive officer of The Chefs' Warehouse, Inc. “In 2017 we will continue to focus on building our specialty business, improving margins and processes in our protein companies and facilitating cross sell opportunities between our specialty and protein business units. We are excited to have the consolidation of our MT Food Service acquisition into our Chicago operation completed. We are also continuing to invest in our technology platform as we accelerate the rollout of our ecommerce platform, which will enable a much more seamless online customer experience.”
For fiscal year 2017, The Chefs’ Warehouse, Inc projects revenue to be in the range of $1,250 million to $1,280 million and its net income to be in the range of $9 million to $10.50 million and diluted earnings per share to be in the range of $0.34 to $0.40and its adjusted diluted earnings per share to be in the range of $0.34 to $0.41.
Operating cash flow improves marginally
The Chefs Warehouse, Inc has generated cash of $38.91 million from operating activities during the year, up 3.15 percent or $1.19 million, when compared with the last year. The company has spent $35.82 million cash to meet investing activities during the year as against cash outgo of $129.30 million in the last year.
Cash flow from financing activities was $27.23 million for the year, down 70.09 percent or $63.81 million, when compared with the last year.
Cash and cash equivalents stood at $32.86 million as on Dec. 30, 2016, up 1,239.12 percent or $30.41 million from $2.45 million on Dec. 25, 2015.
Working capital increases
The Chefs Warehouse, Inc has recorded an increase in the working capital over the last year. It stood at $157.24 million as at Dec. 30, 2016, up 20.37 percent or $26.61 million from $130.63 million on Dec. 25, 2015. Current ratio was at 2.47 as on Dec. 30, 2016, up from 2.27 on Dec. 25, 2015.
Cash conversion cycle (CCC) has decreased to 23 days for the quarter from 25 days for the last year period. Days sales outstanding were almost stable at 18 days for the quarter, when compared with the last year period.
Days inventory outstanding has decreased to 17 days for the quarter compared with 20 days for the previous year period. At the same time, days payable outstanding went down to 13 days for the quarter from 14 for the same period last year.
Debt moves up
The Chefs Warehouse, Inc has witnessed an increase in total debt over the last one year. It stood at $332.52 million as on Dec. 30, 2016, up 21.53 percent or $58.90 million from $273.62 million on Dec. 25, 2015. Total debt was 52.49 percent of total assets as on Dec. 30, 2016, compared with 46.67 percent on Dec. 25, 2015. Debt to equity ratio was at 1.72 as on Dec. 30, 2016, up from 1.46 as on Dec. 25, 2015. Interest coverage ratio deteriorated to 3.52 for the quarter from 4.10 for the same period last year. Disclaimer: Please note that this is an auto-generated article. IRIS does not guarantee the accuracy, adequacy or completeness of any information and is not responsible for any errors or omissions or for the results obtained from the use of such information. IRIS especially states that it has no financial liability whatsoever to any user on account of the use of information provided on its website. For queries contact: editor@irisindia.net
