ORLANDO, FL - Starboard Managing Member and CEO Jeffrey Smith sat down in an interview with CNBC to discuss Darden Restaurant Group’s recent turnaround.
As we’ve previously reported, in October of 2014, Darden overturned its entire Board of Directors following nearly a year of feuding with its investor group Starboard Value LP.
It seems now to be a consensus that Darden has completely turned around its poor financial results from the past year. In its most recent quarterly report, sales for the company had increased by nearly 7 percent.
When asked if gasoline prices and an improved economy were major factors in the company’s turnaround, Smith had this to say, “Darden is actually performing better than the rest of the restaurant industry.” He credits Darden’s success almost entirely to the company’s new CEO Gene Lee.
“He’s really focused on the operations of the business and making sure that we’re focused on the guest first, and that’s pervaded through the organization and the organization is doing a fantastic job,” Smith says.
Smith says that he’s very proud of what Darden has done in recent months.
“We were the first to be successful at replacing the entire board at Darden, but what’s amazing is the relationship between the management team and the board from the first weeks has been incredible,” continued Smith. He tells CNBC that this relationship made it easy for the company to find a new CEO, and drew candidates' interest from all over.
“The feedback [the candidates] were getting from management about how well the board was working, how well we were working with them, and how we were focused on just doing the right thing for the company and improving the company for the best interest of the shareholders and the employees, really impressed them.”
Smith continued that working well with the management of Darden is what has brought value to the company overall.
And Smith might be right, looking at the stock data. Averages increased steadily by nearly 20 percent over the last year.
Stay tuned to AndNowUKnow for the latest updates on the improving company.
