Papa John's profit beats Street target

LOS ANGELES, May 6 (Reuters) - Pizza delivery company Papa John's International Inc (PZZA.O) posted on Tuesday a better-than-expected profit before items and stood by its previously issued forecast for the full year.

Net income at the pizza chain was $8.6 million, or 30 cents per share in the first quarter, compared with its year-earlier net income of $13.2 million, or 43 cents per share.

Excluding a $5.2 million after-tax loss related to its franchisee-owned cheese purchasing company, Papa John's earnings rose 9 percent to 48 cents per share.

Analysts, on average, were looking for earnings excluding items of 44 cents per share, according to Reuters Estimates.

Revenue rose nearly 11 percent to $289 million from $260.6 million, helped by a nearly 14 percent increase at U.S.company-owned restaurants. The Louisville, Kentucky-based company also opened 26 domestic restaurants during the quarter.

Domestic system-wide sales at restaurants open at least one year were up 1.7 percent for the quarter. Sales at company-owned restaurants were up 2.6 percent, while sales rose 1.4 percent at franchised restaurants.

"We had an outstanding first quarter in arguably the toughest operating environment in our company's history," Papa John's Chief Executive Nigel Travis said in a statement.

Pizza sellers have been in the doldrums for months as a weak U.S. economy and high gas prices have pinched consumer demand. At the same time, prices for key ingredients like cheese and flour have risen sharply.

Despite the better-than-expected profit, Papa John's reiterated its forecast for full-year earnings of $1.68 to $1.76 per share, excluding any impact from the results of the cheese-buying operation.