Darden Restaurants, which owns several major US restaurant brands including Yard House and Olive Garden, continues to burn through funds as much of the country's restaurants remain closed to dine-in service.
The company's "ongoing weekly cash burn rate has improved to less than $10 million," it reported as part of its fourth quarter business update through May.
Darden stated increased confidence in its cash-flow projections and stabilization in credit markets, however, allowed it repay a $750 million loan (€683 million) earlier this month.
The company said it has $700 million (€638 million) in cash on hand as of May 17, and with its loan paid off, can now has access to over $1.4 billion (€1.3 billion) in liquidity.
The company reported its restaurant sales declined by nearly 50 percent through the fourth quarter of this year so far.
"Beginning April 27, we began reopening dining rooms limited to between 25 percent - 50 percent capacity, depending on local or state regulations," the company reported.
As of May 17, it has been able to open 49 percent of its restaurant brand dining rooms to limited capacity. The company expects to have more than 65 percent of its dining rooms open with limited capacity by the end of this month.
