Revenue during the quarter grew 17.63 percent to $61.98 million from $52.69 million in the previous year period. Gross margin for the quarter contracted 123 basis points over the previous year period to 38.28 percent. Operating margin for the quarter stood at negative 2.05 percent as compared to a positive 0.02 percent for the previous year period.

Operating loss for the quarter was $1.27 million, compared with an operating income of $0.01 million in the previous year period.

However, the adjusted EBITDA for the quarter stood at $3.03 million compared with $3.74 million in the prior year period. At the same time, adjusted EBITDA margin contracted 221 basis points in the quarter to 4.89 percent from 7.10 percent in the last year period.

Kevin Miles, President and Chief Executive Officer of Zoës Kitchen, commented, “Fiscal 2016 marked another solid year of growth for Zoës Kitchen, and included a 22% increase in revenue, strong growth in restaurant-level contribution, and 38 new restaurants representing 23% unit growth. We also grew comparable restaurant sales by 4.0% for the year, including our 28th consecutive quarter of positive comp store sales growth, which we believe is particularly impressive given the headwinds that the restaurant industry is facing and the strong 7.7% comp store sales comparison we rolled over in the fourth quarter.”

For fiscal year 2017, Zoes Kitchen Inc expects revenue to be in the range of $325 million to $327 million.