INDIANAPOLIS Shares of Steak n Shake Co. fell to a seven-year low in trading on Monday following a report made after market Friday that the chain expected to report a loss for its first quarter ended Dec. 19.
Steak n Shake's stock fell nearly 18 percent Monday to close at $7.80. Until Monday, Steak n Shake's stock over the past year had traded between $9.41 and $18.10.
Steak n Shake said Friday that it expects a first-quarter loss of between 4 cents and 5 cents per share after same-store sales for corporate units sank 9.5 percent for the period. In the prior year's first quarter, Steak n Shake earned 15 cents per diluted share. Revenue for the first quarter was $136 million, compared with $147 million in the same period a year ago, the company said.
Steak n Shake blamed the disappointing results on guest traffic that was dampened by a "deterioration" in consumer spending, severe weather, aggressive competition and problems in store-level operations. The company said sales also were hurt by a coupon promotion a year ago that was not repeated in the fiscal 2008 first quarter.
Steak n Shake said it would report full results Jan. 24.
The company, based here, and its franchisees operate 491 restaurants in 21 states.
