New CEO for DineEquity

0

News of continued sales declines at DineEquity Inc.’s restaurants was sweetened with the company’s announcement of a new chief executive and a third-quarter stock dividend during its second-quarter earnings call last week.

Investors reacted favorably, sending the stock price up more than 4 percent to $38.80 a share at the close of markets Aug. 10 from $37.27 a day earlier. The company has a market value of nearly $700 million.

The Glendale-based parent company of IHOP and Applebee’s Neighborhood Bar & Grill said Stephen Joyce, chief executive at Rockville, Md.-based Choice Hotels International Inc., would step into the top position on Sept. 12.

Board director Richard Dahl had been serving as interim chief executive after Julia Stewart stepped down from the position in February amid growing dissatisfaction over the company’s performance.

The company’s board of directors also declared a third-quarter cash dividend of 97 cents per share of common stock, payable on Oct. 6.

Same-restaurant sales at domestic IHOP and Applebee’s locations both declined this quarter, prompting the company to revise its expectations downward for both brands.

– Caroline Anderson

No posts to display