DineEquity 'agnostic' when its comes to planned refinancing in 2014

By Lisa Kerner

Charlotte, N.C., June 2 - DineEquity, Inc. is eyeing a refinancing later this year to cut its interest expense, according to chairman and chief executive officer Julia Stewart.

"We have a bank and bond deal today and our bonds have an interest rate of about 9.5%, so the notion of refinancing as quickly as possible is a good thing," said Stewart during a presentation Monday at the Goldman Sachs Lodging, Gaming, Restaurant and Leisure Conference in New York.

"We're sort of agnostic - we've done a bank deal; we've done a bond deal; we've done a securitization deal; we've pretty much done everything in the industry in terms of financial instruments," said the CEO.

The bank and bond financing has a make-whole on it that levels out in October, so every month that "we hold off" we save $5 million, Stewart said.

Stewart said she is "very comfortable" with the company's 4.8 times leverage today.

DineEquity is a Glendale, Calif.-based owner of Applebee's Neighborhood Grill & Bar and IHOP Restaurants.

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