Restaurant performance falls

Consumer and business uncertainty caused restaurant performance to fall in February, as most operators reported declining same-same stores sales compared with a year earlier in the latest survey by the National Restaurant Association.

The trade group’s monthly performance index posted at 98.8 in February, down 2.3 points from the prior month, with just 18% of operators reporting same-store sales increases from a year earlier. The index tracks the health of U.S. restaurants based on several metrics, with numbers above 100 pointing to industry expansion while those below 100 indicate contraction.

“A majority of restaurant operators reported lower same-store sales and customer traffic in February, which was a sharp reversal from the more positive readings in January,” the Washington, D.C.-based association said in a statement Monday, noting that 51% of operators reported annual sales gains in the January survey. “Looking forward, restaurant operators are increasingly uncertain about sales growth and the economy in the coming months.”

A separate survey index gauging current conditions fell 3.5 points from the prior month, to 96.9, and another measuring expectations for the next six months dropped 1.1 points, to 100.6. Despite declines, the forward-looking index remained in positive territory for the fifth straight month, and the majority of surveyed operators, 54%, plan spending in the next six months on equipment, location expansion or remodeling.