Carl Karcher Enterprises Inc

CKE Restaurants held an initial stock offering Thursday for a buffet-style restaurant company, with investors forking out $36 million for stakes in the new Star Buffet Inc. CKE, the Anaheim-based parent company of Carl's Jr. and Hardee's burger chains, had owned all of Star Buffet. It sold 60% to investors and kept the remaining 40% of the company, which includes 16 HomeTown Buffets and two Casa Bonita restaurants.

The desert sun was setting as William P. Foley II, calm and cool as usual, munched popcorn and maneuvered a golf cart into his garage after 27 holes at a local resort. But the day was hardly over. In less than an hour, two busloads of Wall Street analysts and stockbrokers would converge on Foley's stylish weekend home in an exclusive neighborhood for a cocktail party to hear about plans for the newly reinvigorated Carl's Jr.

Carl Karcher Enterprises Inc., which runs the Carl's Jr. fast-food chain, said Friday that the recession contributed to the drop in profit for the third quarter. It reported earnings of $1.3 million, or 7 cents a share, down from $1.9 million, or 11 cents a share, for the same period last year. Revenue also dropped. The chain took in $112.8 million during its third quarter, which ended Nov. 2. A year earlier, third-quarter revenue was $123.6 million.

Citing the unappetizing economy, Carl Karcher Enterprises Inc. said Thursday that it lost $5.5 million, or 31 cents a share, for its fiscal year ended Jan. 25. For the previous year, the company showed a profit of $13 million, or 72 cents a share. The parent of the Carl's Jr. fast-food chain rang up $502.6 million worth in sales during the latest year, a 7% drop in revenue from the previous year's $540.4 million. For the fourth quarter, Karcher saw a loss of $13.

William P. Foley II, who led an investor group late last year that acquired a controlling interest in Carl Karcher Enterprises, has been elected chairman of the Carl's Jr. fast food chain, replacing interim chairman Elizabeth A. Sanders. The fast food company also is seeking shareholder approval for a corporate restructuring that includes the creation of CKE Restaurants Inc., a new Delaware- based holding company that would oversee Karcher Enterprises' restaurant businesses.

Carl Karcher Enterprises Inc. said Monday that it has emerged from an expensive corporate restructuring and long-running battle with the company's founder to post an annual profit for the first time in two years. "The past fiscal year was one of extraordinary accomplishment in a very challenging environment," Donald E. Doyle, Karcher Enterprises chief executive, said in a prepared statement.

ADDRESS: 1200 N. Harbor Blvd., Anaheim BUSINESS: Operator of fast-food restaurants in California, Arizona and Nevada. ASSETS: $268.7 million (at Aug. 10). NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES: 11,900. TOP EXECUTIVES Name Position Carl N. Karcher Chairman, chief executive officer Donald F. Karcher President, chief operating officer Loren C. Pannier Group vice president, finance and administration Raymond J. Perry Vice president, operations Robert W. Wisely Vice president, marketing cash Name Compensation Carl N.

In an effort to fuel expansion, Carl Karcher Enterprises Inc. said Friday that it plans to sell 57 company-owned Carl's Jr. restaurants in Northern California to franchisees over the next two years. Analysts said franchising will allow Carl's to expand faster in Northern California because franchisees will pay for new construction. But the plan depends on Carl's ability to arrange financing for its franchisees, according to a restaurant consultant.

For burger baron Carl N. Karcher, the past week was bittersweet. On Monday, Karcher was in New York to celebrate Carl Karcher Enterprises' switch to the New York Stock Exchange from the Nasdaq market. "It was a historical moment for me," said Karcher, founder of the Carl's Jr. fast-food chain. "And to think, we bought the first hot-dog cart just about 50 years ago."

Carl Karcher Enterprises Inc. said Tuesday that its stock will begin trading next week on the New York Stock Exchange. Karcher Enterprises' 18.5 million shares now trade on Nasdaq. Karcher Enterprises President Donald E. Doyle said the new listing "represents a milestone in the growth and development of Carl Karcher Enterprises." The company's stock symbol will change to CKR from its Nasdaq symbol, CARL. The Anaheim-based company operates 650 Carl's Jr.

It's no big secret that the Carl's Jr. chain was slow to respond several years ago when fast-food customers began to clamor for better values. Even as fast-food leader Taco Bell pushed its menu prices down, Anaheim-based Carl Karcher Enterprises continued to rely on the company's longstanding reputation for high-quality food at somewhat higher prices. That strategy hurt the fast-food company as customers began viewing Carl's Jr. as a costlier alternative. But starting today, Carl's Jr.

Carl Karcher Enterprises Narrows Quarterly Loss: The Anaheim-based fast-food restaurant chain lost $458,000, or 2 cents a share, in the fourth quarter on $105.8 million in revenue. That compares to a quarterly loss of $10.8 million, or 60 cents a share, on revenue of $105.7 million the year before. But cost cutting helped the firm post its first annual profit in two years. For the 53 weeks ended Jan. 31, Karcher had net income of $3.

Carl Karcher Enterprises Inc. said Monday that it has emerged from an expensive corporate restructuring and long-running battle with the company's founder to post an annual profit for the first time in two years. "The past fiscal year was one of extraordinary accomplishment in a very challenging environment," Donald E. Doyle, Karcher Enterprises chief executive, said in a prepared statement.

An arbitrator has ruled that Carl Karcher Enterprises must pay $3 million to a group of investors that had been negotiating to buy several Carl's Jr. restaurants. The payment will result in a net loss of about 5 cents a share for the fourth quarter ended Jan. 31, company officials said Wednesday. Final fourth-quarter and annual financial figures will be released in about a month.

He ain't the Colonel. Scott A. Beck, chairman of Boston Chicken Inc., is 35, small, wiry and curt, with piercing hazel eyes. He talks of product, not poultry. He calls his restaurants stores. "We're in the multiunit retail business," Beck said. "We consider it far more specialty retail than we do restaurant." Boston Chicken's plump, rotisserie-roasted birds and home-style side dishes may be the most comforting fast food around.