USA: Amarillo Mesquite Grill, Inc. Reports First-Quarter Earnings

Amarillo Mesquite Grill, Inc. today announced that sales for the first quarter ended April 30, 2000, increased 22% to $5,629,353 as compared to $4,630,842 for the first quarter of the prior year. Net earnings for the first quarter ended April 30, 2000, were $104,841, or one cent per common share, as compared to $121,342, or two cents per common share, for the first quarter of the prior year. The company operated fourteen Amarillo Mesquite Grills as of April 30, 2000, as compared to twelve Amarillo Mesquite Grills as of May 2, 1999. Chris F. Hotze, President, said: "During the first quarter, we initiated various promotions to increase traffic and reverse negative same store sales trends. These programs were successful in reaching those objectives, as we experienced an increase in both customer counts and same store sales. Unfortunately, these aggressive price point promotions also negatively impacted our margins by increasing our promotional costs and consequently affecting our bottom line earnings. "Currently we are modifying these programs in such a manner that will diminish the impact on margins but still retain a large portion of the sales gains. Our goal is to realize incremental sales increases that should more than offset the increased promotional costs and ultimately result in increased net earnings. "We will continue our efforts toward increased earnings and toward finding major additional funding for new unit development. In the meantime, the Company has signed a lease for a new restaurant in Wichita Falls, Texas, which should open during July. This unit will be financed out of cash flow." The Company currently operates fourteen Amarillo Mesquite Grills in Kansas, Oklahoma, Missouri and Arkansas.