By Roshan Fernandez

Cava Group reported an increase in revenue and profit driven by same restaurant sales growth and new store openings.

The Mediterranean fast-casual chain on Thursday reported a first-quarter profit of $25.7 million, or 22 cents a share, for the period ending April 20. That compared with $14 million, or 12 cents a share, a year earlier.

Excluding one-time items, per-share earnings were 22 cents, beating the 14 cents analysts were expecting, according to FactSet.

Cava Group revenue rose to $331.8 million from $259 million a year earlier. Analysts surveyed by FactSet had forecast sales of $326.8 million.

Same restaurant sales were up 11%, primarily due to an almost 8% increase in guest traffic. It's the fourth-straight quarter the company has notched double-digit growth in its total same restaurant sales.

For the full year, Cava upped its guidance for adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization to $152 million to $159 million, an increase of $2 million at both ends of the range.

The company said it expected net new Cava openings to be between 64 and 68 stores, up from 62 to 66 previously.

Pre-opening costs for the full-year are up by $500,000 on either end of the range to $14.5 million to $15.5 million.

Cava has employed a suburban focused growth strategy, according to a report from data firm Placer.ai, and has seen the median household income of the areas around its stores drop over the years.

"Even as CAVA expands its reach among a wider range of suburban visitors, it has maintained its core audience," the report said. "While a substantial portion of wealthy customers remains, the chain has effectively opened itself up to a larger and more diverse pool of visitors."

Write to Roshan Fernandez at roshan.fernandez@wsj.com

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