UPDATE 1-Darden profit tops view, but shares fall
* Q4 adjusted EPS 90 cents versus 86 cent Street view
* Shares fall 3.3 percent after hours
LOS ANGELES, June 23 (Reuters) - Darden Restaurants Inc (DRI.N), operator of the Red Lobster and Olive Garden chains, on Tuesday posted higher earnings from continued operations as it held down costs amid a weak economy.
Darden, which also owns Capital Grille and LongHorn Steakhouse, said earnings from continued operations was $122.8 million, or 87 cents per share, for the fiscal fourth quarter ended May 31, compared with earnings of $103.3 million, or 72 cents per share, a year earlier.
Excluding integration costs and purchase accounting adjustments of about 3 cents, Darden earned 90 cents per share. Analysts, on average, were looking for a profit of 86 cents per share, according to Reuters Estimates.
Sales in the quarter rose to $1.98 billion from $1.83 billion.
Shares of Darden, viewed by analysts as one of the restaurant industry's best-operated companies, slipped 3.3 percent to $31.91 in after-hours trading, from a close on the New York Stock Exchange at $33. (Reporting by Lisa Baertlein; Editing Bernard Orr)
