Sales at Carl's Jr. fall, while Hardee's improves

The high unemployment rate in California continued to hurt sales at Carl’s Jr. in the second quarter, deepening the loss for parent company CKE Restaurants Inc., the now-private company reported Tuesday.

Carpinteria, Calif.-based CKE Restaurants, parent to both the Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s quick-service chains, was acquired in July by Columbia Lake Acquisition Holdings Inc., an affiliate of Apollo Management VII LP. Officials have indicated that quarterly reports will continue under the new owners.

For the second quarter ended Aug. 9, which included about four weeks under the new owners, CKE reported a loss of $27.1 million, compared with profit of $12.3 million for the same quarter a year ago. The most recent quarter included $26.8 million in costs related to the merger, which were offset slightly by a $3.4 million gain from the July sale of Carl's Jr.'s distribution business, the company said.