On May 1, restaurateur and Moons Over My Hammy specialist Denny's (NASDAQ:DENN) released first-quarter earnings for the period ended March 28.

  • Reducing interest expenses by 23% from a voluntary prepayment of outstanding debt helped profit rise 63.3%.
  • Slow sales, along with increasing labor wages, led to a decline in gross margin.
  • Margins were also affected by rising commodity prices for orange juice and shell eggs.
  • Motley Fool CAPS investors seem to prefer breakfast from their local Denny's. It rates four stars, compared to competitors IHOP (NYSE:IHP) and Applebee's (NASDAQ:APPB), which rate three stars and one star respectively.

(Figures in millions, except per-share data)

Income Statement Highlights

Q1 2007

Q1 2006

Change

Sales

$236.8

$248.0

(4.5%)

Net Profit

$1.2

$0.7

63.3%

EPS

$0.01

$0.01

0.0%

Diluted Shares

99.0

96.9

2.1%

 Get back to basics with the income statement.

Margin Checkup

Q1 2007

Q1 2006

Change*

Gross Margin

16.4%

18.3%

(1.9)

Operating Margin

5.4%

6.1%

(0.7)

Net Margin

0.5%

0.3%

0.2

*Expressed in percentage points.

Margins are the earnings engine.

Balance Sheet Highlights

Assets

Q1 2007

Q1 2006

Change

Cash + ST Invest.

$35.2

$29.9

17.6%

Accounts Rec.

$13.5

$16.6

(18.7%)

Inventory

$8.3

$7.2

15.3%

Liabilities

Q1 2007

Q1 2006

Change

Accounts Payable

$40.4

$40.9

(1.2%)

Long-Term Debt

$436.3

$544.7

(19.9%)

*Long-term debt includes capital leases.

The balance sheet reflects the company's health.

Cash Flow Highlights

YTD 2007

YTD 2006

Change

Cash From Ops.

$14.5

$7.2

101.4%

Capital Expenditures

$4.6

$7.0

(34.3%)

Free Cash Flow

$9.9

$0.2

    -- 

Free cash flow is a Fool's best friend.

Related Foolishness:

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