GOLDEN Colo. New World Restaurant Group Inc. posted a fourth-quarter profit, compared with a net loss in the same quarter a year earlier, by combining increased sales with reduced costs, the company said Thursday. It was the company's second consecutive profitable quarter.
For the 13 weeks ended Jan. 2, New World earned $6 million, or 54 cents per share, compared with a net loss of $723,000, or 7 cents per share, in the same quarter a year ago. Boosting the company's bottom line was a 22-percent reduction in total operating expenses driven by lower bonus payments, one less week of operation in fiscal 2006 versus fiscal 2005, and a $550,000 refund on sales tax overpayments.
New World's fourth-quarter revenues totaled $99.2 million, a 4.5-percent drop from a year earlier, when New World benefited from an additional operating week. Same-store sales for the latest quarter rose 4.7 percent.
For the full year, the company narrowed its net loss to $6.9 million, or 66 cents per share, from a year-earlier net loss of $14 million, or $1.42 per share. Fiscal 2006 revenues totaled $390 million, up 0.2 percent from fiscal 2005. Same-store sales increased 4.5 percent.
