Yahoo Finance -- Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE: DRI - News) today reported sales and diluted net earnings per share for the third quarter ended February 22, 2009. In the third quarter, diluted net earnings per share from continuing operations were 78 cents, a decrease of 2.5%, versus 80 cents in the prior year. The Company estimates that integration costs and purchase accounting adjustments related to the October 2007 acquisition of RARE Hospitality International, Inc. (RARE) reduced diluted net earnings per share by approximately two cents in the third quarter of the current fiscal year. Excluding the estimated integration costs and purchase accounting adjustments of approximately two cents, net earnings from continuing operations were 80 cents per diluted share in the third quarter. This compares to net earnings from continuing operations of 85 cents per diluted share in the third quarter of last year excluding estimated integration costs and purchase accounting adjustments of approximately five cents.
