Meal Assembly Watch

Even though they had a great year in sales, Wendy’s is showing signs of caution as we move forward in this year. They expect the higher food costs and slower economy will have an impact on them.

Wendy’s International Inc. (WEN) issued a cautionary forecast for the near term Monday, citing “consumer nervousness about the economy” and rising commodity costs.

Although the hamburger chain didn’t give a specific earnings estimate, its chief financial officer, Jay Fitzsimmons, said on a conference call the company thinks it “prudent” to expect 2008 earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and appreciation, or Ebitda, “near the lower end” of current analysts’ estimates.

That range is $324 million to $358 million, according to Thomson First Call.

The company’s commodity cost projections see beef prices up 3% to 4% and chicken prices up “as much as” 5% to 8%. Overall food and paper costs could be up 140-180 basis points for the year, with higher menu prices and lower overhead seen as offsets.

First-quarter earnings are expected to include an impairment charge of $5 million to $10 million for store closes. The full-year charge for closures in 2007 was $7.3 million.

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• Wendy’s Announces 2007 Full Year and 4th Quarter Results
• New Menus Next Year Equals Price Hikes At Restaurants
• Burger King 2nd-quarter profit rises 29 percent
• As global food costs rise, are biofuels to blame?
• Fast food chains offering more food for less
• Sopping Wet Crops To Drive Up Food Prices
• Price Of Hershey Chocolate Going Up
• Arby’s owner buying Wendy’s for $2.34 billion stock deal
• Higher prices heading beyond gas, food