Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc reported a jump in quarterly profit on Thursday, even as higher food costs squeezed restaurant margins at the popular burrito chain.
The Denver-based company said first-quarter net income rose to $76.6 million, or $2.45 per share, from $62.7 million, or $1.97 cents per share, a year earlier.
Sales at restaurants open at least 13 months, a closely watched gauge of industry performance, were up 1 percent, matching analysts' average estimate compiled by Consensus Metrix.
It repeated its prior call for flat to low single-digit percentage sales growth at established restaurants for 2013, excluding any menu price increases.
