CKE’s Earnings Increase 44%

CKE Restaurants Inc., the fourth-largest U.S. hamburger chain, said Thursday that earnings rose 44% in the fiscal third quarter as it improved profit margins and boosted sales at its main restaurant chains.

Anaheim-based CKE, whose chains include Hardee’s, Carl’s Jr. and Taco Bueno, earned $19 million, or 39 cents a share, up from net income of $13.1 million, or 27 cents, a year ago. Analysts had pegged CKE’s per-share earnings at 40 cents for the three months ended Nov. 2.

Revenue climbed 32% to $457.6 million from $347.5 million.

The company has been reducing labor costs and discounts on its foods. It’s also improving results at the struggling Hardee’s chain, which it bought in April. Profit margins at all three chains improved, widening to 17.2% from 13.7% at its 2,883 Hardee’s restaurants.

Sales at restaurants open at least a year--a key industry indicator--rose 2.6% for the Carl’s Jr. chain and 7.1% at Taco Bueno. Same-store sales were down 7.2% at company-operated Hardee’s, an improvement of 3.6 percentage points from the fiscal first quarter.

In the most recent quarter, CKE logged gains of $4.5 million for early debt retirement and $10.3 million for the sale of its investment in Star Buffet Inc., and a charge of $15 million to write down assets associated with Boston West LLC, an operator of Boston Chicken Inc. restaurants.

CKE’s stock closed at $27.94, off 69 cents a share.