Oct 20 - Drive-in restaurant chain Sonic Corp reported better-than-expected quarterly results, helped by lower expenses and refranchising of partner drive-ins.
For the fourth-quarter ended Aug. 31, net income fell to $16.9 million, or 28 cents a share, from $20.2 million, or 33 cents a share, a year ago.
Excluding items, Sonic earned 29 cents a share, edging past average analyst estimates of 27 cents a share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
Revenue fell 23 percent to $173.8 million, but surpassed Wall Street topline expectation of $170 million.
"While sales performance is not where we would like it to be, we do feel positive about our ability to maintain traffic at a relatively flat level," Chief Executive Clifford Hudson said in a statement.
Total expenses fell 25 percent to $136.8 million.
Shares of Sonic closed at $11.17 Tuesday on Nasdaq.