Ark Restaurants Corp.

Greetings, and welcome to the Arc Restaurant's third quarter 2023 results call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. A question and answer session will follow the formal presentation. If anyone should require operator assistance during the conference, please press star zero on your telephone keypad. As a reminder, this conference is being recorded. I would now like to turn the conference over to your host, Christopher Love, Secretary for Arc Restaurants. Thank you. You may begin.

Thank you, Operator. Good morning and thank you for joining us on our conference call for the third quarter ended July 1st, 2023. My name is Christopher Levin. I am the Secretary of Arc Restaurants. With me on the call today is Michael Weinstein, our Chairman and CEO, Anthony Sirica, our President and Chief Financial Officer, and Vinnie Pascal, our Chief Operating Officer. For those of you who have not yet obtained a copy of our press release, it was issued over the news wires yesterday and is available on our website. To review the full text of that press release, along with the associated financial tables, please go to our homepage at www.artrestaurants.com. Before we begin, however, I'd like to read the Safe Harbor Statement. I need to remind everyone that part of our discussion this morning will include forward-looking statements, and that these statements are not guarantees of future performance, and therefore, undue reliance should not be placed on them. We refer everyone to our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission for a more detailed discussion of the risks that may have a direct bearing on our operating results, performance, and financial conditions. I'll now turn the call over to Michael.

Hi, everybody. Thank you for joining us. I think I want to first hand over everything to Anthony, so we can go over some balance sheet items, and then I'll take the call back and discuss where we are.

Thanks, Michael. The quarter was really quiet with respect to the balance sheet. We ended the quarter with $14 million in cash and $7.7 million in debt. We paid down an additional $6 million of loans early on April 4th due to the high rates that were now being charged because of the interest rate environment. Our current cash position is approximately the same as it was at the end of the quarter. Other than that, on the balance sheet, there really aren't any significant changes. Very quiet. I think you also, the board also declared the dividend last week of 18.75 cents payable on September 12th to record holders on August 31st.

All right. Thank you, Anthony. Obviously, we did not create or generate the EBITDA we did last year for this quarter. The There are three components to that. Number one, in Las Vegas, our Gallagher's restaurant, because of the refurbishing requirements and our new leases, required us. We started the refurbishing somewhere in the prior quarter, but we were still closed until April 27th in this quarter when it reopened. So that cost us a significant amount. dollar revenue and therefore some EBITDA cash flow. The second factor is our Florida full-service restaurants. They're just down. Even though they're down in revenue about 10%, 12% on average, if you take all of them, Deerfield Beach, Fort Lauderdale-by-the-Sea, Rustic, and Shucker's, So those four restaurants on average are down about 10 percent. It's slightly worse with headcounts because we've had some menu price increases post-pandemic. And as we continue those menu price increases and we're up maybe four or five percent in menu prices from the prior quarter in 2022. So given that, you know, headcounts are down 13, 14 percent. I can tell you from what we're hearing and we speak to people, we are not alone. Most full-service Florida restaurants in the southern part of the state are experiencing the same thing. We have no excuses. We think our menus are fairly priced in the environment we're in and the product is good. I think we were comparing to pent-up demand in the prior year's quarter. That's not visible to us this year. Our Alabama restaurants are doing very well. Our Las Vegas sales have been very strong. The New York sales have been very good, Washington, D.C. So Florida remains the weak spot. Another factor in EBITDA difference between this year and last year are payrolls. We're able to find people now, but the price points are higher than they've been in the past. We think it's starting to stabilize. We have most positions filled throughout the company, so we're fully staffed. It's just costing us more.

We've had minimum wage increases in Vegas, Florida.

Yeah, as Anthony's saying, we have legislative minimum wage increases in Vegas, Florida, and D.C., so we're up against it in terms of labor. Food costs have stabilized. In some cases, we're seeing a dive back towards where we used to be. We're managing our food costs very well, I think, and I think we're managing payroll well when we're When we're fully staffed, we're trying to eliminate all overtime, but prices for labor are just higher. So I think that sort of gives you an explanation of the environment we're in. This quarter so far, we haven't seen any increase in demand in the full-service Florida restaurants. The other restaurants seem to be doing what our expectations are. So Florida remains the big disappointment. I might add that New York, New York, where we do many disciplines, we have fast food court operations, we have full service restaurants, we have room service. What you see there is a flow into, demand flow into the fast food court. The food court is doing better than the full service restaurants. On balance, if you looked at that in the prior year, we just think people are not spending as much. New York, New York happens to be a middle income crowd. That's the demographic. So we think we're seeing people opting for the less expensive options. That's probably taking place in our Florida restaurants as well. Check averages are down. People are carrying entrees. So it's not only fewer people coming to the restaurant. People coming are not spending what they used to spend. It's just the environment we're in. So with that, I'll take questions.

Thank you. If you'd like to ask a question, please press star 1 on your telephone keypad. A confirmation tone will indicate your line is in the question queue. You may press star two if you'd like to remove your question from the queue. For participants using speaker equipment, it may be necessary to pick up your handset before pressing the star keys. One moment, please, while we poll for questions. Our first question comes in the line of Paul Johnson, private investor. Please proceed with your question.

Yes, good morning. I just joined the call, so you may have spoken about this already, but can you give us an update on the Meadowlands?

Yeah, I'm happy to. So there's nothing really going on there in terms of the state legislature or the governor. They have taken the same attitude as the majority partners in the Meadowlands party. We're the third largest holder of the limited partnership interests. Hard Rock and an individual developer in New York are the majority, represent the majority of the limiteds. The attitude has been, that we should not be pushing for a referendum to the state constitution to allow for gaming outside of Atlantic City until casinos in New York have either been issued their licenses for downstate or are in operation downstate. That seems to be Murphy's position as well and key legislatures who my partners speak to. This is essentially the fear that the public will not understand the importance of a casino to tax revenues in New Jersey until they see people driving through the tunnels or over the bridges to get to downstate New York casinos. We have I don't think we have one clear good shot of getting the public behind this. We do polling of the public. It's slightly in favor if a referendum were to be proposed to the legislature. But it's by no means a slam dunk. And therefore, we think the pressure created by New York casinos being open would be advantageous to our cause.

Pardon?

Sorry, I was just going to ask, what would the timing be for that in a perfect world?

Well, the perfect world is that before the end of this year, New York is supposed to issue three downstate casino licenses. We know We don't know. By the way, we speak to law firms that are representing individual developers in New York to get their take on it also. I don't do this every day, but once every two or three months, I call a couple of the partners in these firms who I happen to know. The feeling is strongly that Yonkers gets a license that's owned by MGM. Getting gets a license at Aqueduct. And then there's one up for grabs. There's the Trump property in the Bronx that's vying for it. There are three or four properties in Manhattan, Hudson Yards being one of the primaries. And then Steve Cohen, you know, the stadium, uh, Met Stadium is vying for one. We don't think, and, and, uh, we don't think Cone gets it because that's public parkland. And, uh, we think there'd be a lot of litigation, uh, with that. Um, uh, so, you know, we, we think it's likely to be, you know, um, there's another player, um, The Venetian has put together acreage in Queens as well. That's a viable property. We have difficulty thinking about a casino in Manhattan. But that's my point of view. We think there'd be a lot of litigation. One of the advantages that Meadowlands has, and I've said this in the past, We are already built for first days of the casino project. We could be in business literally in 60 days. All the environmental studies have been done. There is no residential around us to litigate that this is going to be impactful on them. There's plenty of parking. So we just think we're the natural habitat for a casino license. So that's basically where we are. We're honestly highly confident. It just requires New York to follow through and issue these licenses. If they issue the licenses, by the way, MGM gets one for Yonkers and Genning gets one for aqueduct. They'll be in business in a matter of months. So, you know, it'll push the timetable forward dramatically for legislation in New York. I would think there's a good shot that legislation is brought, you know, up in the next year's session prior to, you know, November.

Got it. Thank you. And then you've got a fair amount of cash in the balance sheet, which is great. And you announced the dividend is, is the idea instead of maybe buying back stock, it's kind of the liquid, but is the idea that you want to hold onto that cash in case there's a attractive acquisition opportunity?

That's always been the case. Um, we're always looking, um, you know, we, we, we, we'll, we'll find something once a year, I would think that's, uh, that's attractive. We also are believers that our cash position will be helpful in the Meadowlands if a license is issued. We have exclusivity with the exception of a cutout for a Hard Rock Cafe. We have exclusivity to all the food and beverage if a casino is built. So we're going to need cash for that as well. We think, you know, we won't have very much trouble finding capital to do those projects. But, you know, whatever capital we can keep on a balance sheet would be helpful.

I thought you had said in the past that if that all came to pass, that it's more likely you'd sell the interest to Hard Rock.

If HardRock's a developer with us, I really believe before we... There are two parts of this. Number one, I want to be in a position not to be diluted very much. So the cash on the balance sheet helps. Number two, I really believe at some point before the casino were to open, that Hard Rock would want to consolidate its position and buy out, you know, minority limited partners. Even though we're the third largest, our interest is in the 7%. 7.4%. So I don't know that I would think it's logical that they would want us out. But, you know, I can't guarantee that to myself. So obviously the statement, that cash on a balance sheet helps our position still stands until they come around with an offer. So that's the way we're playing it.

That's very helpful. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you. As a reminder, if you'd like to join the question queue, please press star 1 on your telephone keypad. Our next question comes from the line of Jeffrey Kaminsky with JJK Consultants. Please proceed with your question.

Good morning, guys. Thanks for taking the call. A few questions for you, Mike and team. Approximately $14 million in cash on the balance sheet and approximately $7 million in debt. You said you paid off some debt. Is the current $7 million in debt locked in at lower rates, or is there some interest rate risk there?

They're at the current rates. We considered paying those off, but we were looking at a couple of deals, which didn't come to fruition. So, again, we want to keep that cash to do an acquisition, which we hope will come along soon.

But we also have a credit line available to us beyond all of this.

Okay.

With respect to leases, Would it be Vegas, New York? Any developments in terms of any important leases that are up for renewal or extensions?

Anything to report there?

We have a lease in Bryan Park runs through May of 2025. That lease will be the subject of a request for proposal from the Parks Department in New York. We think we're well positioned to extend the lease. We've extended it twice over, you know, over the 27 years we've been there. We think we're the best use for it. Obviously, other people will respond to the request for proposal. But, you know, I think the odds are very much in our favor.

Okay.

And last question, guys. With respect to Meadowlands, which you just discussed, should this play out on the timetable that we're all optimistic about. Mike, you just mentioned about Hard Rock would probably want to consolidate ownership and get rid of minority partners. Do you envision, should it work out that way, that they buy out the interest, the ARC interest, but you maintain the exclusivity in terms of having the concessions, you know, but for the Hard Rock Cafe?

Or they would buy a lot and you'd... Yeah, so what I would say to you is this. We had a long talk with the tax experts at Simpson Thatcher about four years ago, spinning off our interest in the Meadowlands. Why? Because if we sell our interest in the Meadowlands at any point, it is taxable to the company. And then on a dividend, if we would, pay a dividend, it's again taxable to our shareholders. So there's a double tax involved. We were trying to figure out a way to spin it off so that there would be at a low basis because there's no operation there so that we wouldn't be subject to double taxation. Thinking this through to the future in some projection. There is no strong basis where the IRS won't challenge you for spinning this off. So then you look at other possibilities. We're in the restaurant business. We want to keep our restaurants. We would certainly like to operate the restaurants in the casino. We think that would be a terrific opportunity for our shareholders. So how do you go about that? and at the same time entertain a bid. You know, it's too fuzzy right now, but our interest would be, you know, if the price was attractive, figuring out some way to do it and then somehow go back into business as a restaurant company with the properties we presently own. how that could be accomplished. You know, it's not worth thinking about now. You know, but that would be our interest to maintain our restaurants.

Okay. Thanks so much. Thanks for answering the questions. Thank you.

Thank you. I'm showing no other questions at this time. I'll turn the floor back to Mr. Weinstein for any final comments.

All right, thank you. We'll speak to you in about three months. I appreciate your interest and look forward to our next conference call. Take care.

Thank you. This concludes today's conference call. You may disconnect your lines at this time. Thank you for your participation.