PASADENA, CALIF. — A dip in consumer confidence and spending fueled a down quarter for Dine Brands Global Inc.

Net income for the Applebee’s and IHOP parent company in the first quarter ended March 31 was $7.84 million, equal to 53¢ per share on the common stock, down 54% from $16.96 million, or $1.13 per share, in the same quarter of 2024. Dine Brands attributed the decrease to declining segment profit and $5.85 million in closure and impairment charges, with the company overseeing the closure of 39 restaurants in the first quarter.

“In Q1, consumer confidence declined, and that certainly influences the challenges that our guests continue to face,” said John Peyton, chief executive officer of Dine Brands Global. “Guests remain cautious with their spending, particularly the lower income guests, and we continue to see check management and trade down to lower priced items.”

Revenues totaled $214.78 million in the first quarter, up 4.1% from $206.24 million in the same period a year ago.

Comparable same-store sales at Applebee’s fell 2.2% in the quarter, while IHOP comparable sales declined 2.7%. Off-premises comparable sales for Applebee’s rose 3.7% versus the prior first quarter, due in large part to demand for the meal deal menu line and its boneless chicken wings promotional campaign during the National Collegiate Athletic Association basketball tournament, Peyton said.

“The positive trend in off-premises volume is validation of our deliberate effort to grow off-prem by including nationally advertised campaigns and featuring to-go only promotions,” Peyton said.

Menu innovation is becoming an increasingly large focal point for Applebee’s, with the company planning to introduce a new item each quarter, Peyton said. In the first quarter, Applebee’s added two Bourbon Street Cajun pasta dishes to its Big Easy deal menu.

“This limited time promotion leveraged the fan favorite Bourbon Street section of our menu, and the Big Easy Menu drove both sales and check in March, and that momentum continued into April,” Peyton said.

Dine Brand’s IHOP strategy centers on four pillars: the House Faves value menu lineup, focusing on the breakfast daypart, increasing speed of service and decreasing wait times, and an increased marketing presence.

“Our commitment to IHOP House Faves value menu, which launched in Q4 '24, is performing exactly as we expected, and it’s helped attract more guests to our restaurants,” Peyton said. “Despite headwinds in the family dining segment, the House Faves menu is a key driver for traffic growth, building on last quarter’s momentum, and as a result, IHOP beat the family dining segment on traffic this quarter.”

Dine Brands further reaffirmed its commitment to its dual Applebee’s and IHOP restaurant concept. Each dual location features separate dining areas themed after one of the two brands while sharing a common space, kitchen and restrooms. The company expects to open 14 domestic dual brand concepts and more than 20 international locations.

“In March, we detailed our plans to expand the dual brand concept for the goal of opening 13 additional dual brands, while also completing 10 dual conversions this year, which will more than double our international dual brand restaurant count to 41,” Peyton said. “This includes our first ever dual brand restaurant in Costa Rica, which will open in Q3 and the opening of the first non-traditional restaurant in Mexico. Latin America is a key international market for us.”