Bob Evans Farms To Close 20 Restaurants

(RTTNews) - Bob Evans Farms, Inc. (BOBE) said Wednesday that it plans to close 20 Bob Evans Restaurants following a comprehensive unit-level performance review of its restaurant portfolio.

The closures will take place over the next 12 months, with the majority of locations to close by the end of May.

The company said that it owns 16 of the 20 affected restaurants, and that it will immediately seek to sell those properties, with net proceeds estimated between $15.0 and $17.0 million. Although restaurants subject to closure generated about $20 million of annual revenue, the move is expected to improve annual operating income by about $2.5 to $3.0 million, the company said.

The company estimates that it will incur $4.7 million to $5.2 million of expenses related to the closures, with about $2.1 million of the total expected to be non-cash charges.