Bob Evans Farms (NASDAQ: BOBE) reported Q4 EPS of $0.56, $0.15 better than the analyst estimate of $0.41. Revenue for the quarter came in at $332.4 million versus the consensus estimate of $330.97 million. Comps were up 2.1%.

Fiscal year 2016 outlookMark Hood, Chief Financial Officer said, "Fiscal 2015 was a year of significant change. Our reconstituted Board of Directors has helped us chart a new path forward focused on the turnaround of our restaurant and retail foods businesses, and establishing a corporate culture of efficiency. We enter fiscal 2016 with an improving outlook, a relentless focus on restoring our brand positioning, and a sense of urgency to improve our profits.

“We expect low-single digit same-store sales improvement for Bob Evans Restaurants beginning in the second quarter through the remainder of fiscal 2016, with full year gains of 1.5 to 2.5 percent, as we balance reduced guest discounting, the benefits of further menu development, the impact of commodity cost increases (including eggs) and measures to increase operational efficiencies. BEF Foods net sales in fiscal 2016 are expected to be in the $380 to $400 million range. Our refrigerated side-dish business will lead double-digit growth of our retail business; however, lower foodservice revenues and increased trade spending will limit overall sales growth. We also expect BEF Foods to realize benefits of lower sow costs (net of increased trade spending) and further plant efficiency improvements. Fiscal 2016 will include a 53rd week. We expect this additional week to contribute approximately $0.10 per diluted share.

“Our capital expenditure budget of $80 to $85 million includes three significant investments: 1) a new point-of-sale system which when fully implemented in fiscal 2017 is expected to provide annual savings of $12 million; 2) the addition of a fourth production line at our Lima, Ohio, facility to sustain double digit sales growth in our refrigerated dinner sides business; and 3) phase two of our ERP implementation to improve customer and product profitability analytics.”

Hood continued, “From a corporate perspective, we will continue optimizing our cost structure, as we work not only to accelerate the opportunities we identified in 2015, but to also develop added savings and efficiencies. These actions are expected to deliver a 25 to 35 percent increase in operating income. However, we expect increased interest expense and a higher tax rate in fiscal 2016 will limit EPS growth to 7 to 20 percent. The expected tax rate increase in fiscal 2016 has approximately a $0.40 negative impact on expected fiscal 2016 diluted earnings per share. During the first quarter of fiscal 2016, we have repurchased $50 million, or 1.1 million shares of our stock, and expect to purchase an additional $100 million during the balance of fiscal 2016. Additionally, we expect to complete one or more sale and leaseback transactions relating to our New Albany, Ohio, headquarters and two BEF Foods manufacturing facilities in the second or third quarter. Our guidance does not include the impact of a potential restaurant real estate transaction.”

Summary of performance drivers: fiscal 2016 guidance versus fiscal 2015

(Street sees FY16 EPS of $1.86 on revenue of $1.37 billion)

For earnings history and earnings-related data on Bob Evans Farms (BOBE) click here.