TORONTO -- Freshii Inc. has withdrawn its fiscal 2019 outlook after widely missing analyst third-quarter forecasts.
The company says it is rescinding next year's guidance due to challenges the Toronto-based restaurant chain is experiencing in achieving its forecasted store growth, sales, expenses and earnings.
The company, which reports in U.S. dollars, says its net loss attributable to shareholders was $459,000 or one cent per share during the period ended Sept. 30. That's compared with a $514,000 or two cents per share loss a year earlier.
Sales for restaurants open at least a year, a key retail metric, decreased 0.8 per cent compared with a same-store sales growth of 5.1 per cent in the third quarter of 2017.
Total revenues increased 27 per cent to $5.6 million, from $4.4 million a year earlier as it added 10 net new locations.
Freshii was expected to earn four cents per share on $6.07 million in revenues, according to analysts polled by Thomson Reuters Eikon.
Believing Freshii's share price doesn't fully reflect its value, the company plans to buy back up to 10 per cent of its 25.6 million shares over the next year.
The company had expected up to $285 million in sales from as many as 760 stores within the next year or so, up from its current count of 431 franchised and company-owned locations.
