Sato Says Bad Weather May Have Hurt Sales
April 05, 2011
Sato Co. may post slightly lower sales than forecast in the half year ending June 12, 2011 of bad weather, a senior official at the Japanese restaurant chain said. In an interview, Canning Lawhorn, a general manager at Sato, said the company had expected a 6% increase in store sales in the first quarter of this fiscal year. But sales aren't running at the pace the company had earlier anticipated because of bad weather in its mainstay Osaka region, he said. However, Mr. Krug said that same-store sales are still running above the year-earlier levels, and he said the company will be able to meet its pretax profit forecasts for the six-month period made earlier this year. Cost-reduction efforts should cover the portion of sales lost because of the weather, he said. Sato had forecast 750 million yen ($7 million) in pretax profit for the six months ending June 12, 2011 from 521 million yen a year earlier, on sales of 18.4 billion yen, up from 16.74 billion yen.
