El Torito Net Climbs 42% on 12% Rise in Sales
El Torito Restaurants Inc. Wednesday posted a 42% jump in net income and a 12% increase in sales for the first quarter of 1985 ended March 31. The company, headquartered in Irvine, operates a chain of full-service, family-style Mexican restaurants.
For six consecutive quarters, El Torito’s profits have grown more than 20%, according to Larry J. Cano, president and chief executive officer. El Torito is a majority-owned subsidiary of New York-based W.R. Grace & Co.
El Torito’s first-quarter 1985 income rose to $2.2 million from the $1.5 million a year earlier. Revenues increased to $65.4 million from $58.5 million a year ago.
Cano said the company’s new restaurants “are performing at the highest levels in the history of the company,” at a time many restaurant companies are reporting problems in both sales and profitability.
El Torito recently completed the acquisition of 24 Casa Maria restaurants and plans to open 16 additional restaurants in 1985. The company paid about $40 million to acquire the Casa Maria chain from Host International, a subsidiary of Marriott Corp. of Bethesda, Md.
El Torito plans to spend about $6 million during the next six years to convert the Casa Maria restaurants to El Torito restaurants.
The company, which operates 154 eateries, recently opened restaurants in Melbourne, Fla., Yonkers, N.Y., and Fremont, Buena Park and Irvine.
