Darden Restaurants Inc. Q1 Profit Increases, beats estimates

(RTTNews) - Darden Restaurants Inc. (DRI) released a profit for its first quarter that increased from last year and beat the Street estimates.

The company's bottom line came in at $194.5 million, or $1.59 per share. This compares with $193.0 million, or $1.56 per share, in last year's first quarter.

Excluding items, Darden Restaurants Inc. reported adjusted earnings of $217.0 million or $1.78 per share for the period.

Analysts on average had expected the company to earn $1.73 per share, according to figures compiled by Thomson Reuters. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

The company's revenue for the quarter rose 11.4% to $2.73 billion from $2.45 billion last year.

Darden Restaurants Inc. earnings at a glance (GAAP) :

-Earnings (Q1): $194.5 Mln. vs. $193.0 Mln. last year. -EPS (Q1): $1.59 vs. $1.56 last year. -Analyst Estimate: $1.73 -Revenue (Q1): $2.73 Bln vs. $2.45 Bln last year.

-Guidance: Full year EPS guidance: $8.55 - $8.85