Profit Down, Revenue Up at Hard Rock Cafe

The 32-year-old, locally based subsidiary of London-based Rank Group PLC posted profit of $41.7 million, a 23.5% drop from $54.5 million in fiscal 2001. But industry analysts say the company's operating profit margin of 11.4% is still in the 10% to 20% range most businesses target.

Total sales of $365.8 million, up 2.6%, topped the $356.4 million booked in the previous year. Merchandise sales specifically were down 8.2%.

The company confirms it plans no new cafes this year but is moving ahead with new joint hotel and casino development plans. In Choctaw, MS, the 15,000-employee company is teaming with the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians to open its first Hard Rock Beach Club and a separate 300-room Hard Rock Hotel in an estimated $100 million venture. Hard Rock will own the Beach Club and the tribe will own the hotel when it opens at the Indians' Pearl River Resort in Choctaw.

In Florida, Hard Rock and the Seminole Tribe of Florida plan to open joint casino operations in 2004 in Tampa, 80 miles west of Downtown Orlando; and near Fort Lauderdale, 25 miles north of Downtown Miami. The Tampa property, off Exit 5 on Interstate 4, will have 10 restaurants, 90,000 sf of gaming space, 1,500 slot machines and 50 gaming tables, as GlobeSt.com previously reported.

Hard Rock already has an operating casino in Las Vegas and has opened two others in metro London where its parent, Rank Group PLC, is a major European gaming development player.

Hard Rock operates 109 restaurants in 38 countries. Sixty one of the properties are company owned; the balance is franchised. In Orlando, the company has 620 employees with corporate headquarters at 6100 Old Park Lane.