Papa Johns 1998 Annual Report Download - page 2

In 1985, when I was serving pizza out of a
broom closet in my dad’s tavern, one thought
kept me going: I believed I could make a better
pizza than the big chains. The problem was, in
1985 I was the only person who believed that.
Not anymore. Fourteen years later, America
has discovered a better pizza!
For the third consecutive year, consumers
have awarded Papa John’s top honors among
national delivery pizza chains in the prestigious
Restaurants and Institutions’ Choice in Chains
survey. With nearly 2,000 restaurants throughout
the U.S. and in four international markets, more
and more people every day are discovering why
better ingredients really do make a better pizza.
Once again, our operating results were out-
standing. In 1998 we surpassed $1 billion in
systemwide restaurant sales. Revenues grew
32% to a record $669.8 million and net income
grew 41% to $37.8 million (before the cumulative
effect of a change in accounting for pre-opening
costs). We ended the year with the strongest
balance sheet in our history, including stock-
holder’s equity of $262.7 million (with only
$1.3 million in long-term debt) and more than
$81 million in cash and investments to fuel our
continued growth.
Our passion for quality and increasing market
share generated a great deal of interest in the
national media last year. Papa John’s was
featured in Time, Fortune, The New York Times,
The Los Angeles Times, The Dallas Morning News
and Investor’s Business Daily, among others.
Also during 1998:
■Nearly 10% of restaurants in our system
at the beginning of 1998 averaged more
than $1 million in annual sales.
■Our system experienced 9.8% positive
same-store sales growth, our best in the last
three years.
To Our Shareholders,
Team Members and Franchisees