Sour Dough

Krispy Kreme Doughnuts Inc. (Winston-Salem, N.C.) reported first fiscal quarter sales of $100 million, a 7 percent decrease from a year earlier. The company’s net loss for the quarter was $7.4 million, up from $6 million a year earlier.

During the quarter, 13 new Krispy Kreme stores opened, while four were closed. That brings the total number of stores to 404, consisting of 301 company-owned stores and 103 franchise outlets. The net increase of 9 stores in the quarter reflects a net increase of 12 international stores and a net decrease of 3 domestic stores.

“While Krispy Kreme still faces some longstanding challenges, we continue to advance the turnaround,” said Daryl Brewster, president and ceo. “During the quarter, we improved our average weekly sales per company store and slowed the decline in systemwide sales. We refinanced our credit facilities to achieve cost savings. We reduced special professional fees and made progress in reducing other general and administrative costs. Our international franchisees continued to show significant growth. We also took steps to re-evaluate elements of the business, which resulted in recording impairment charges of $12.7 million to write down certain assets.”