Pizza Hut Franchisee Buys Stores, Earnings Grow

Despite same-store sales being down by 5%, one of the country's largest restaurant franchisees, NPC International Inc of the Pizza Hut chain, has posted increased earnings after buying 105 stores and selling 42 units.

In a Friday release, the privately held Overland Park-based company reported earnings of $6 million for the quarter that ended March 31, up 41.8 percent from $4.2 million last year.

Sales for the quarter were $232.3 million, up 37.6 percent from $164.8 million last year. - Kansas City Business Journal

NPC CEO Jim Schwartz said that this marked the fourth quarter in the past 43 quarters for which the company reported a comparable-store sales decrease.