CKE Restaurants Inc., which is in the midst of a merger deal with Apollo Management, has released its period three company-operated same-store sales results for the period ended April 19 for its Carl's Jr. and Hardee's brands.
While Hardee's is showing improved comps thanks to strong sales of its Grilled Cheese Bacon Thickburger and two new Made From Scratch biscuit items, Carl's Jr. stores continue to be negatively impacted by the region's high unemployment and challenging economic conditions.
Hardee's comps were up 0.3 percent for the period but down 1.8 percent year to date, compared to positive 3.6 comps for the same period last year and fiscal year 2010 year-to-date comps up 3.3 percent. At Carl's Jr., comps were down 8.7 percent over a decline of 3.6 percent in the same period last year. Year-to-date, comps were down 6.4 percent compared to a decline of 4.8 percent in the prior fiscal year.
Blended comps were down 4.8 percent for the period and down 4.4 percent year to date.
"The period three same-store sales trend at Hardee's again showed growth for the period on top of relatively strong performance in the prior year," said Andrew F. Puzder, CKE chief executive, in a news release. "However, Carl's Jr. same-store sales continued to be negatively impacted by the poor economic conditions and high unemployment rates in our core California market, which continued to climb during the month of March.
"We continue to focus on the excellent value-for-the money of our premium products and combo meals, and have several new initiatives in the works to improve same-store sales and increase market share."
