Last updated on August 10th, 2015 at 01:42 pm
The National Restaurant Association’s Restaurant Performance Index (RPI) declined in June for the second consecutive month. The RPI—a monthly composite index that tracks the health of and outlook for the U.S. restaurant industry—stood at 102.0 in June, down 0.4 percent from May and its lowest level in nine months. Despite the decline, June represented the 28th consecutive month in which the RPI stood above 100, which signifies continued expansion in the index of key industry indicators.
“Although same-store sales and customer traffic levels remained positive in June, the overall RPI declined as a result of dampened optimism among restaurant operators,” said Hudson Riehle, SVP of the Research and Knowledge Group for the association. “The proportion of restaurant operators expecting sales growth fell to its lowest level in nine months, while operators’ outlook for the economy turned negative for the first time in nearly two years.”
Despite the downturn, a majority of restaurant operators reported higher same-store sales for the 16th consecutive month, as June’s result were similar to the May performance. Sixty-four percent of restaurant operators reported a same-store sales gain between June 2014 and June 2015, down slightly from 67 percent who reported higher sales in May.
Restaurant operators also reported similar customer traffic results in May and June. Forty-seven percent of restaurant operators reported an increase in customer traffic between June 2014 and June 2015, down from 52 percent who reported higher traffic in May.
Along with positive same-store sales and customer traffic levels in recent months, capital spending remained at elevated levels. Sixty-four percent of operators said they made a capital expenditure for equipment, expansion or remodeling during the last three months, which marked the ninth consecutive month in which a majority of operators reported making an expenditure.
