UPDATE 2-Cracker Barrel Q2 results top estimates, shares up

* Q2 EPS $0.81 vs estimate $0.75

* Rev $630.2 mln vs est $626 mln

* Reiterates 2009 EPS view of $2.65-$3.00, vs est $2.63

* Shares rise 14 pct (Adds details from conference call, updates share movement)

BANGALORE, Feb 24 (Reuters) - Cracker Barrel Old Country Store (CBRL.O) posted quarterly results that beat Wall Street expectations, helped by tighter cost controls, sending its shares up as much as 14 percent. "The key component of our plan is to spend only what we have to," the restaurant operator's chief executive, Michael Woodhouse, said on a conference call with analysts.

Cracker Barrel plans to sell and leaseback 15 stores and a retail distribution center, and expects proceeds of $55 million to $60 million from the sale. It plans to use the proceeds and excess cash flow to repay debt.

The company said it expects to sell the stores and retail distribution center for a gain and will own about 400 stores after the sale.

The Tennessee-based company said it is in compliance with its debt covenants. It has a long-term debt of $772 million with $8.8 million in current maturities.

STRONG Q2 RESULTS

For the quarter ended Jan. 30, income from continuing operations was $18.4 million, or 81 cents a share, compared with $20.2 million, or 85 cents a share, a year earlier.

Same-store sales fell 1.5 percent at restaurants and 7 percent at its gift shops, said the company, which operates 588 restaurants in 41 states.

Looking ahead, Cracker Barrel now expects fiscal 2009 revenue to be down 0.5 percent to up 0.5 percent. It had previously forecast a fall of 0.5 percent to a rise of 1.5 percent. In 2008, it posted revenue of about $2.4 billion.

The company, which competes with Texas Roadhouse (TXRH.O), DineEquity Inc (DIN.N) and Darden Restaurants (DRI.N), said it would slow its new store openings for fiscal 2010 to seven stores. It has opened all of the 11 planned stores for 2009.

"By limiting new store development for next year, we can focus on executing the basics in order to maximize cash flows," Woodhouse said in a statement. Shares of the company were trading up $2.37 at $20.32 Tuesday afternoon on Nasdaq.

For the alerts, double click [ID:nWNAB6017] (Reporting by Shivani Singh in Bangalore; Editing by Deepak Kannan, Amitha Rajan)