Fast-casual restaurant Noodles & Company has reported a total revenue increase of $81.5m, or 20.7%, from $393.7m in 2020 to $475.2m in 2021.
The company’s fourth-quarter (Q4) total revenue in 2021 also grew by 7.1% to $114.8m, compared to $107.2m in the same quarter in 2020.
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In 2021, the growth was due to an increase in traffic and average unit growth, while the Q4 increase was driven by digital and in-person channels, as well as higher menu pricing.
Last year, Noodles & Company’s system-wide comparable restaurant sales increased 22.1%, including a 21.3% rise for company-owned restaurants and a 27.1% rise for franchise restaurants.
In Q4, the company’s system-wide comparable restaurant sales increased 11.2%, including a 9.5% growth for company-owned restaurants and a 20.8% rise for franchise restaurants.
For the fiscal year ended 2021, the restaurant’s average unit volumes increased by 22.2% to $1.3m, compared to $1.1m in 2020.
Last year, the company opened six new company-owned restaurants, and by the end of the year, it had a total of 448 restaurants, specifically 372 company-owned and 76 franchise restaurants.
In 2021, the company’s digital sales increased by 20% and accounted for 56.6% of sales. In Q4, they grew 1% and accounted for 57.3% of sales.
The net income stood at $3.7m, or $0.08 per diluted share, in 2021 compared to a net loss of $23.3m, or $0.53 loss per diluted share, in 2020.
Noodles & Company reported a net loss of $4.7m in Q4 2021, compared to a net loss of $3.8m in the same quarter of 2020.
The adjusted EBITDA in 2021 increased 232.5% to $38.1m, from $11.5m in 2020, and in Q4 the adjusted EBITDA decreased 7.3% from $5.3m to $4.9m.
Noodles & Company CEO Dave Boennighausen said: “During 2021, Noodles & Company made significant progress in positioning the brand to meet and surpass our accelerated growth objectives, evidenced by full-year average unit volume growth of 11.3% relative to 2019 and continued strength in our new restaurant performance.”
