Landry's posts 3Q profit; will restate 1Q, 2Q

Landry's moves to profit in 3rd quarter, needs to restate 1st-qtr and 2nd-qtr results

• On 12:25 pm EST, Friday November 6, 2009

HOUSTON (AP) -- Landry's Restaurants Inc., which is being taken private by its CEO, said Friday it moved to a profit in the third quarter on lower costs compared with a year-earlier period hurt by big writedowns.

The restaurant operator also said it must restate its results for the first and second quarters because it did not appropriately record the value of its stake in its T-Rex subsidiary.

In the quarter that ended Sept. 30, the Houston company earned $6.7 million, or 41 cents per share, compared to a loss of $17.1 million, or $1.06 per share,in the same quarter a year earlier.

The latest quarter included a $19.4 million gain on debt extinguishment and a $6.2 million cost on the value of interest rate swaps. The year-ago quarter included an $18.5 million writedown primarily due to Hurricane Ike damage and a $1.8 million charge from interest rate swaps.

Excluding those items, profit in the latest quarter was 2 cents per share, down from 35 cents per share in the 2008 quarter.

Revenue fell 4.5 percent to $276.6 million from $289.7 million.

Sales at restaurants open at least a year fell 6.5 percent as consumers continued to look for ways to save money. Sales at locations open at least a year are a key measure of a retailer's health because they measure growth at existing stores rather than newly opened ones.

Landry's plans to restate profit for its first quarter to 37 cents from 44 cents per share, and second-quarter profit to 41 cents from 50 cents per share.

Landry's runs restaurants under the names Landry's Seafood House, Chart House, Rainforest Cafe and others as well as hotels and the Golden Nuggets Hotels and Casinos in Nevada. Its CEO Tilman Fertitta said earlier this month that he plans to take the restaurant chain private next year, acquiring all outstanding shares he does not already own. The company said the deal is expected to close in the first half of next year.

Landry's shares rose 29 cents, or 2 percent, to $14.94 in morning trading. The stock earlier traded at $15.03, eclipsing a 52-week high of $14.65 set Thursday.

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