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Cheesecake Factory: revenue steady in 4th quarter

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CALABASAS HILLS, Calif. (AP) — The Cheesecake Factory Inc. said Tuesday that its preliminary fourth-quarter revenue held steady while sales in established locations dipped slightly.

The restaurant chain said sales for the period that ended Dec. 29 were $401 million compared with $400 million during the same quarter in 2008.

Meanwhile, sales in locations open at least a year dipped about 1 percent, with sales down 0.7 percent at the company’s namesake locations and down 3.9 percent at Grand Lux Cafes.

Sales in restaurants open at least a year are an important retail industry measure that tracks sales in established stores, rather than newly opened ones.

They declined 2.8 percent in the preceding third quarter, and Cheesecake Factory said the sequential improvement was “driven almost entirely by guest traffic.”

Formal figures will be presented when Cheesecake Factory reports results Feb. 11.

In morning trading, shares of the company rose $1.30, or 6.1 percent, to $22.56 after setting a 52-week high of $22.76.