Noodles & Company reported on Tuesday a wider loss in the first quarter, amid continued sales declines and restaurant closures.
The fast-casual operator reported a $27.8 million loss in the quarter ended April 4, or 99 cents per share, compared with a loss of $2.4 million, or 9 cents per share, the previous year.
Same-store sales fell 2.5 percent at company restaurants, and increased 1.1 percent at franchised locations.
Much of the loss came from the impact of 55 unit closures. Denver-based Noodles & Company raised $50 million from two private-equity firms, L Catterton and Mill Road Capital, to help pay for the closures.
Dave Boennighausen, interim CEO, called the 55 restaurants “a persistent burden on the company’s human and financial capital.” He said the closures “will have a significant benefit on the company’s future earnings profile and also give us the opportunity to place more emphasis” on its stronger restaurants.
Noodles & Company’s net loss adjusted for one-time events, like the closures, was $2.5 million, or 8 cents per share, compared with a loss of $1.7 million, or 6 cents per share the previous year.
Revenue in the quarter increased 2.4 percent, to $116.7 million, from $114 million the previous year.
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