MINNEAPOLIS Buca Inc., owner-operator of 89 Buca di Beppo casual-dining restaurants, swung to a fourth-quarter loss of $5.3 million, or 26 cents per share, from a small net profit a year earlier on slowed sales trends and impairment charges for shuttered restaurants or locations closed for renovation.
Buca, which announced in December it was undertaking a strategic review that could include a sale of the company, had earned $900,000, or 5 cents per share, in the year-earlier quarter.
Restaurant sales totaled $64.1 million for the 13-week quarter ended Dec. 30, down 10.3 percent from sales of $71.5 million for the 14-week quarter in fiscal 2006. The extra operating week in 2006, the closures of two restaurants in early 2007, and the temporary closing of its San Francisco location, which shut down for renovation in September and reopened in November, were cited for the reduced sales.
Same-store sales for the latest quarter fell 2.5 percent.
For the full year, Buca recorded a loss of $16.2 million, or 79 cents per share, versus a loss of $4.6 million, or 23 cents per share, in fiscal 2006. In the latest year, the company recorded $5.1 million in impairment charges and a loss from discontinued operations that negatively affected its bottom line.
Latest-year total sales fell 3.2 percent from a year earlier to $245.6 million. Annual same-store sales increased 0.7 percent.