On January 3, 2014, the Board of Directors of Bloomin' Brands, Inc. approved a change in the fiscal year end from a calendar year ending on December 31 to a 52-53 week year ending on the last Sunday in December, effective beginning with fiscal year 2014. In a 52 week fiscal year, each of the company's quarterly periods will comprise 13 weeks. The additional week in a 53 week fiscal year is added to the fourth quarter, making such quarter consist of 14 weeks.

The company's first 53 week fiscal year will occur in fiscal year 2017. The company expects to make the fiscal year change on a prospective basis and will not adjust operating results for prior periods. The change to the company's fiscal year will not impact the company's calendar year results for the year ended December 31, 2013.

However, the change will impact the prior year comparability of each of the fiscal quarters and annual period in 2014 in future filings. The company believes this change will provide numerous benefits, including aligning its reporting periods to be more consistent with peer restaurant companies and improving comparability between periods by removing the trading day effect on restaurant sales and operating margins.