Shares haven't been popular ... with Outback insiders

By SCOTT BARANCIK

© St. Petersburg Times, published April 16, 2001

Outback Steakhouse Inc. has done everything but back flips during the past year to get investors to buy its stock, with scant success.

But the Tampa company's insiders haven't exactly been setting an example.

According to a recent filing with regulators, Outback's 14 directors and executive officers reduced their total share holdings by 10 percent between March 2000 and March 2001, from 13-million to 11.7-million. That includes a 20 percent reduction by senior vice president Timothy Gannon and a 10 percent cut by president and co-founder Robert Basham.

Chief financial officer Robert Merritt called the stock sales no big deal. As a group, he pointed out, the proportion of outstanding stock held by Outback's insiders barely budged, falling from 16.8 percent to 15.3 percent.

Corporate executives frequently cash in some shares, he said, to diversify their investments, pay taxes or cover living expenses.

But that doesn't explain why board member Charles Bridges hasn't owned a single share of the company's stock in three years or why fellow director Debbi Fields-Rose ended the 12-month period with zero shares.

Outback's stock closed Thursday at $25.23, down 17 cents, compared to a 52-week high of $34.13. Its annual shareholders' meeting will take place April 25 in Tampa.

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