2018 was another solid year as our Operators once
again drove traffic and grew sales. In fact, our fourth
quarter of 2018 represented our 36 th consecutive quarter
of positive comparable restaurant sales growth. To drive
and sustain positive sales for the last nine years is a
testament to our Operators, who we believe are the best
in the industry. I am truly blessed to be their partner.
For the year, we finished with comparable restaurant sales
up 5. 4 % which pushed our average unit volume above
$ 5. 2 million. That is $ 1 million higher than it was just five
years ago. Our revenue increased 10. 7 % to $ 2. 5 billion
and diluted earnings per share increased 19. 6 %.
We also continued to globally expand our restaurant base
during 2018. Domestically, we opened 23 Texas Roadhouse
restaurants and five Bubba’s 33 restaurants. Our franchise
partners opened five international restaurants, including
the first Texas Roadhouses in Mexico and China. We ended
the year with 582 restaurants systemwide in 49 states and
nine foreign countries.
In 2018 , we increased the bench strength of our
Leadership Team with the promotions of Tonya Robinson
to Chief Financial Officer and Doug Thompson to Chief
Operating Officer. Tonya has 20 years of experience at
Texas Roadhouse in a variety of financial roles. Doug
has 16 years of experience with Texas Roadhouse, all in
operational roles. Both Tonya and Doug bring valuable
expertise and long-term vision to our Leadership Team.
We also expanded our Texas Roadhouse Regional Market
Partner Team from three to five. We believe that having
five smaller regions, rather than three larger regions,
allows us to provide better restaurant-level support to
our Operators and positions us well for future growth.
Our Board of Directors also experienced a lot of changes.
We are excited to have added Curtis Warfield to the
Board. Curtis, who is currently the Chief Audit Executive
for Anthem Inc., brings additional financial insight and
experience to our Board of Directors.
However, we were deeply saddened by the unexpected
death of Jim Parker, a member of the Board since we went
public in 2004. Jim was a tremendous asset not only to
Texas Roadhouse but also to Southwest Airlines, where
he served for 18 years including his time as CEO as the
successor to Herb Kelleher. Jim provided a steady hand
and great guidance over the last 14 years and will be
greatly missed by his Texas Roadhouse family.Finally, in February 2019 our Board of Directors authorized
a 20 % increase to our quarterly dividend payment,
increasing it to $ 0. 30 per share from $ 0. 25 in 2018. This
represented our sixth straight year of increasing our
dividends by double digits. For the year, we paid $ 68. 6
million in dividends.Looking ahead to 2019 , we plan to open 25 to 30
company restaurants, including as many as four Bubba’s
33 restaurants. We expect our franchise partners to open
as many as eight restaurants, primarily in international
markets, which includes a new location in South Korea at
Camp Humphreys that opened in January 2019. We
also plan to relocate up to six of our company restaurants
in 2019 and will add seating to approximately 15
existing restaurants.It’s hard to believe that we now have more than 60 , 000
Roadies across the nation. It’s the people that deliver
legendary food and legendary service each and every
day. It’s also the people that truly make a difference at
Texas Roadhouse.At our Managing Partners’ Conference in San Diego,
Dave Eubanks from Mesquite, Texas, was named our 2017
Managing Partner of the Year. Dave has an incredible
passion for his team, phenomenal dedication to detail,
and a legendary commitment to Texas Roadhouse.Another standout is our 2017 Roadie of the Year, Adam
Pike. As Manager of Operations Support, Adam helped
identify cost saving opportunities in our restaurants
and implemented solutions to realize those savings.
This partnership also made life easier for our Operators.We are very pleased with the momentum in our business
and want to thank our Roadies for their passion for Texas
Roadhouse. We also want to thank our shareholders for
believing in our long-term vision.Keep on rockin’- W. Kent Taylor
Founder and Chairman, Chief Executive Officer
Dear Partners,