Famous Dave's Of America Closes 3 Restaurants In Richmond, Virginia Area

(RTTNews) - Famous Dave's of America Inc. (DAVE) announced that it has closed its three restaurants in the Richmond, Virginia area and anticipates incurring impairment charges at up to four additional company-owned restaurants.

As a result, the Company expects to recognize expenses during fiscal 2014's fourth quarter of up to approximately $4.5 million. These expenses primarily relate to the write-off of the book value of the related assets, net of estimated proceeds from the sale of these assets.

The company noted that it is currently in the process of determining the fair market value of these assets and expects to complete its valuation in the first quarter of 2015.

The Company indicated that on a pro forma basis, for full fiscal 2014, the closure of the three Richmond locations would have been accretive to diluted Adjusted Earnings per Share by approximately $0.04 and comparable same store sales would have increased by approximately 0.5% if they had been closed at the beginning of the year. The Company expects to generate cash from the sale of the real estate underlying the three locations.

Ed Rensi, CEO of Famous Dave's said, "As we have stated before, the Company's long term goal is to operate a portfolio of company-owned restaurants representing approximately 10% to 15% of the total system-wide restaurant base; this will create re-franchising opportunities, for both existing and new franchisees, for the majority of the remaining company-owned locations. We believe that this strategy will allow us to focus our human and financial capital on opportunities that will drive the greatest increase in company performance and long-term, per share, shareholder value."