Chipotle to open down after E. coli hits fourth quarter sales

Chipotle Mexican Grill shares are expected to open down over 8% after the company revealed its fourth quarter results will be hit by a number of E. coli cases in its restaurants.

The US food chain, which states on its website it makes “food with integrity”, was hit by an E. coli incident at a handful of its Washington and Oregon stores in October and November.

The chain took measures to make sure its restaurants were safe including deep cleaning at affected sites, changing food preparation procedures and providing supply chain data to investigators.

After the closing bell on Friday, the company said in an SEC filing that it expects fourth quarter sales to be down between 8% and 11% compared to 2014, and non-recurring expenses of between $6m (£4m) and $8m (£5.3m).

The company also planned to buyback over $300m worth of stock in the company.

Before the market opened, the share price was down in after-hours trading by $47.18 (8.41%) to $513.49 per share at 0820 EST.