Exhibit 99.1
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
J. ALEXANDER’S HOLDINGS, INC.
PROVIDES BUSINESS UPDATE
NASHVILLE, TN, February 9, 2021 — J. Alexander’s Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: JAX) (the Company), owner and operator of J. Alexander’s, Redlands Grill, Stoney River Steakhouse and Grill and other restaurants, today provided an update on its business and its strategic evaluation.
Business Update
As mentioned in its business update on December 14, 2020, the Company was impacted during its fourth quarter of fiscal 2020 by a second wave of required dining room closures and increased capacity restrictions in certain of the markets in which it operates arising from the novel coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19). As a result of those capacity constraints, the Company experienced downward trends in its sales recovery experience during the fourth quarter of 2020. As previously stated, the Company’s sales were nearly 90% and 80% of prior year sales for the months of October and November 2020, respectively. For December 2020, which consisted of six weeks, sales were slightly higher than 80% of prior year. However, when excluding the additional week in December 2020 the sales replacement figure was approximately 65% .
Although restrictions on indoor dining continue to be fluid in many of the locations in which the Company operates, capacity restrictions began to ease in late December 2020 and January 2021, resulting in more favorable results for the first period of fiscal 2021. In January 2021, sales were just under 75% of 2020’s January sales and nearly 78% of January sales in 2019. Further, management estimates that these metrics would have been approximately two to three percentage points higher for January 2021 but were impacted by the fact that New Year’s Eve week was included in both January of 2020 and 2019 but not in January of 2021. This represents a 10% - 15% improvement over the December sales recovery rate.
As of February 7, 2021, the Company is operating at approximately 60% capacity of available seats across its 46 locations, and anticipates that capacity to increase over the remaining weeks of February as additional restrictions are eased. Additionally, the Company continues to offer a robust carryout menu at each of its locations, with off-premise sales averaging approximately $850,000 weekly in the last month of fiscal 2020.
The Company estimates that, excluding the impact of the $10,000,000 voluntary repayment of outstanding borrowings in October 2020, it generated approximately $370,000 per week in positive cash flow for the fourth quarter of 2020 (which contained 14 weeks due to fiscal 2020 being a 53-week fiscal year). When factoring in the $10,000,000 voluntary repayment of outstanding borrowings, the Company estimates that the weekly cash burn rate for the fourth quarter of 2020 was approximately $344,000. The Company continues to believe that, at current business levels, it will have adequate liquidity for fiscal 2021 from cash on hand and available borrowings.
Mark A. Parkey, President and Chief Executive Officer of J. Alexander’s Holdings, Inc. stated, “We are encouraged by the progress that we’ve seen over the first few weeks of 2021, and we’re excited by the upcoming opening of our first ground-up build of a Redlands Grill restaurant, which is set to open on March 29, 2021 in the La Cantera Heights area of San Antonio, TX.” The Company is also set to open a new J. Alexander’s restaurant in Madison, AL, a suburb of Huntsville, in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2021.
As of February 7, 2021, the Company’s cash on hand totaled approximately $11.5 million. The Company is not providing guidance for fiscal 2021 in light of the ongoing pandemic, current uncertain consumer environment, uncertainty concerning government restrictions on restaurant capacity and current market and economic conditions.