Los Angeles Business Journal:
California Pizza Kitchen Inc. late Wednesday said it would report better-than-expected growth in fourth-quarter revenue, but trimmed its profit guidance to below Wall Street expectations. It also announced expansion of its franchises in the Middle East.
The Los Angeles casual restaurant chain, which will report earnings Feb. 18, said fourth-quarter revenue was nearly $168 million, compared with the $167 million average expectation of analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters.
The company now expects to report net income of between 15 cents and 17 cents a share, down from its prior range of 16 cents to 18 cents. The analyst average expectation was 18 cents a share. The company did not provide a reason for its change.
Same-store sales fell 5.8 percent, compared with a 7.2 percent drop during the same period last year. “Despite sales challenges for new restaurants in the high unemployment states of California, Michigan and Florida, we were very pleased that our fourth quarter comparable sales were within our previously guided range, said co-Chief Executives Rick Rosenfield and Larry Flax in a press release.