There were asset impairments in the fourth quarter for the closure of one restaurant, and an impairment of three others, including the two specialty restaurants, Hemenway’s, and Old Grist Mill, that were part of the RARE acquisition. We were under contract to sell those two restaurants in the near future. Now, the annual impairment charge includes impairments in previous quarters of non-restaurant operating assets that were in the G&A line, which now appear in the fiscal year total impairment line. The effective tax rate for the fourth quarter of 26.5% was below our previous guidance due to the after-tax benefit hedging I just mentioned.
Turning to the fiscal year, Darden''s total sales increased 8.9% in fiscal 2009 to $7.22 billion, driven by a 4.2% increase due to new restaurant openings and the additional operating week, which added almost two percentage points of growth rate for the year. On an individual operating company basis, Olive Garden same-restaurant sales increased 0.3% and its average unit volumes were $4.8 million, well above those of any other nationally advertised full-service restaurant brand. Red Lobster had a 2.2% same-restaurant sales decrease for the year and its average unit volumes were $3.8 million. LongHorn Steakhouse same-restaurant sales decreased 5.6% and its average unit volumes were $2.8 million. The Capital Grille same-restaurant sales decreased 15.5% and its annual average unit volumes were $6.8 million. And Bahama Breeze same-restaurant sales fell 6.0% and average unit volumes were $5.5 million.
For comparison, same-restaurant sales as measured by Knapp-Track casual dining benchmark excluding Darden were down an estimated 5.6% for our fiscal year and as we know, erosion was more significant at the premium end of the industry. We think both our out-performance on same-restaurant sales and high average unit volumes demonstrates that Darden has a strong portfolio of brands that is capable of remaining healthy in the current period of economic weakness and positioned to be even stronger as the economy recovers.
In fiscal 2009, Olive Garden opened 38 net new restaurants; LongHorn Steakhouse opened 16 net new restaurants; Red Lobster opened 10 net new restaurants; and The Capital Grille opened 5 net new restaurants; while Bahama Breeze and Seasons 52 each opened one net new restaurant. For the year, we repurchased $145 million of our shares. In the last five years, we’ve purchased over $1.42 billion of our stock, which speaks to the significant cash flow we generate on a consistent basis. We have 10.3 million shares remaining in our current repurchase authorization. In fiscal 2010, our focus will be on further strengthening our balance sheet and preserving the financial flexibility to respond to challenges and opportunities that may emerge as a result of the current economic weakness. This fiscal year, we will be opportunistic when it comes to share repurchase, basing our activity on the economic environment, company sales trends, and industry dynamics. Our approach is that should we track to the higher end of our sales and earnings expectation, we are likely to be buying shares in the second half of the year. Alternatively, share repurchase is likely to be relatively limited the entire year should we track to the low-end of our sales and earnings range.
Finally, despite our bias towards capital preservation, our cash generation remains very strong. So yesterday, we announced an increase in our dividend to $0.25 per share payable on August 3, 2009 to shareholders of record July 10, 2009. Previously we paid a quarterly dividend of $0.20 per share, or $0.80 per share on an annual basis. Based on the $0.25 quarterly dividend declaration, our indicated annual dividend is $1 per share, an increase of 25%. And now, I’ll turn it over to Drew to comment on Olive Garden, Red Lobster, and LongHorn Steakhouse.
Andrew H. Madsen – Chief Operating Officer
Thanks very much, Brad. As Brad just mentioned, Olive Garden delivered competitively strong performance once again in the fourth quarter despite wrapping on a very strong year-ago period. During fiscal 2010, the key strategic priority for Olive Garden remains unchanged, and that’s due sustain accelerated new restaurant growth while also maintaining same restaurant excellence. We plan to open approximately 20 to 32 net new restaurants this fiscal year and ultimately we believe the brand has the potential to operate 800 to 900 restaurants in North America. Importantly, the combination of their value leadership position in casual dining, plus compelling promotions that feature exciting new culinary dishes and strong value offers will enable them to maintain strong industry out-performance in same-restaurant sales throughout the year.
Red Lobster also delivered competitively strong same-restaurant sales during the fourth quarter and now has either equaled or exceeded the Knapp-Track industry average for 17 of the last 19 quarters. During fiscal 2010, Red Lobster will continue their brand refresh efforts designed to further broaden appeal, increase same-restaurant sales, and strengthen unit economics. Key initiatives include new dishes that leverage the wood fire grills installed last year, a new advertising campaign that more fully communicates the improved Red Lobster guest experience, and expansion of their successful Bar Harbor remodel program. More specifically, Red Lobster plans to remodel approximately 50 restaurants this year and accelerate the pace of remodels in subsequent years. In addition, they will temporarily slow new unit growth and open three to five net new units during fiscal 2010.
Advertising will feature exciting new wood fire grill dishes, as well as increased emphasis on value and affordability throughout the year. LongHorn same-restaurant sales were slightly ahead of the industry benchmark during the fourth quarter. Importantly, they have meaningfully improved their performance relative to the Knapp-Track average, from a gap of approximately minus 1 percentage point during the first half of fiscal 2009 to plus 1 percentage point during the second half. During fiscal 2010, LongHorn will continue their increasingly focused transition from a roadhouse to a steakhouse. This will include better aligning all of their key guest touch points from the new advertising campaign introduced last March to a new menu design and elevated service levels that are more consistent with a steakhouse experience.
LongHorn also plans to remodel an additional 30 to 35 restaurants, starting with the Atlanta market, which has some of the older restaurants and strongest roadhouse brand image in their system. We’ve chosen to slow net new unit growth at LongHorn from 16 net new units in fiscal 2009 to roughly 10 to 12 net new units in fiscal 2010. These units will be focused on sites with the strongest value creation potential and better position the brand to expand the number of restaurants supported by television advertising in fiscal 2011. During fiscal 2010, LongHorn will benefit from 213 restaurants receiving advertising support compared to 179 restaurants in the first half of fiscal 2009 and 186 restaurants in the second half of fiscal 2009. Their advertising will feature compelling new culinary dishes and occasional value offerings while also helping to build a more consistent brand image.
We are certainly pleased with the financial performance and the strategic progress these brands have made in a difficult economic environment and we believe we are well-positioned to once again deliver another year of competitively superior performance. And now Gene will discuss the three brands in our specialty restaurant group.
Gene Lee -- President, Specialty Restaurant Group
Thanks Drew. The specialty restaurant group’s three brands remain focused on capturing market share by delivering exceptional dining experiences, developing effective sales building initiatives, and continuing to strengthen the business models.
Let’s take a quick look at the status of each brand. The Capital Grille is a proven brand with a strong employee culture that delivers an exceptional, personalized dining experience. The current macroeconomic environment has been particularly difficult for premium steakhouses. Steep declines in business travel and entertainment spending have led to significant demand destruction. The Capital Grille''s sales performance strongly correlates with the erosion in U.S. hotel occupancy rates that started accelerating in calendar fourth quarter last year. Throughout this period, The Capital Grille teams have remained focused on delivering best-in-class service and culinary execution, both of which are a competitive advantage for the brand. The Capital Grille was recognized for the distinct service and culinary expertise as readers of Consumer Reports Magazine gave them the highest score of any steakhouse chain in America. Actually, Capital Grille received the highest score across all full-service restaurants. The brand is focused on strengthening relationships with guests by building customer relationship management capabilities to help their teams further personalize the guest experience.
The team is also leveraging their culinary expertise to provide value to guests in unique ways while still delivering on the brand promise. Capital Grille successfully opened two restaurants in the fourth quarter in Boca Raton, Florida, and in the Time Life Building in New York City. They plan to open three restaurants in fiscal 2010. In the fourth quarter, Bahama Breeze outperformed the casual dining same-restaurant sales benchmark by 240 basis points. More importantly, the brand significantly elevated the guest experience as measured by their guest satisfaction surveys. In February, the company successfully opened a smaller, more efficient prototype in Wayne, New Jersey, that’s exceeding sales and return expectations. In fiscal 2010, Bahama Breeze will focus on expanding their market share as they leverage the escape nature of the brand. They will do this through beverage news, strengthening the brand’s value proposition, and continued operational focus. The team will open one restaurant this fiscal year in Jacksonville, Florida.
Seasons 52 continued to deliver strong unit volumes in the fourth quarter despite the challenging environment. In March, the team opened their first restaurant outside the brand’s footprint in the Southeast in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, and it is exceeding hurdle requirements. The restaurant design improves operating efficiency and creates flexible private dining space while reducing the initial investment. Seasons 52 team will open two to three restaurants in fiscal 2010.
Now I’ll hand it back to Brad for the fiscal 2010 financial outlook.
Brad Richmond
Thank you, Gene. In fiscal 2010, we are basing our combined same-restaurant sales growth for Red Lobster, Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse, between minus 2% and flat. This includes approximately 2% of pricing for fiscal 2010 and our assumption that together, traffic and mix changes will be negative. While the macroeconomic and industry trends that these assumptions are based on could be better than what we built into our plans, we believe our plans are appropriate, given the weakness and the uncertainty we’ve seen in the current consumer environment.
Of course, we will be both above and below this assumed range from month-to-month and quarter-to-quarter, depending on promotional calendars, holiday shifts, and changes in consumer sentiment, which as you know has been volatile for much of the past 12 months. In fact, there are two quarterly holiday shifts you should be aware of this fiscal year. The Thanksgiving holiday, while our restaurants are closed, will fall in our fiscal second quarter in 2010, while it fell in the fiscal third quarter in fiscal 2009. And the start of Lent, which is when Red Lobster begins its signature and historically strong Lobsterfest promotion, will shift to our fiscal third quarter in fiscal 2010, moving from fiscal fourth quarter in 2009. These holiday shifts will have a meaningful impact on quarterly same-restaurant sales results, pressuring the second and fourth quarters and supporting the third quarter.
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