Tag - Kkd

Krispy Kreme Doughnuts (NYSE: KKD) plunged to a new 52-week low this morning after reporting after Thursday’s close that its second-quarter loss widened from a year earlier due to costs associated with closing unprofitable stores. The loss is the chain’s twelfth consecutive quarterly loss.

The Winston-Salem, N.C.-based doughnut shop operator said its second-quarter net loss was $27 million, or $0.42 a share, down from a loss of $4.6 million, or $0.07 a share, during the year-ago period. Two Wall Street analysts covering Krispy Kreme were expecting earnings of $0.03 per share.

Revenue for the three months ended July 29 fell 7.5% to $104.1 million, from $112.5 million a year earlier. Impairment charges soared to $22.1 million, from $0.38 million during the same period of 2006.

The doughnut shop operator has been hurt by misconduct accusations by former executives, healthy eating trends, underperforming franchisees and stiff competition from the largest U.S. doughnut chain, Dunkin’ Donuts. Great Circle Family Foods LLC, which was formerly Krispy Kreme’s largest franchisee, filed for bankruptcy protection last month.

In early morning trading, shares of the small cap are plummeting to a 52-week low – down 21.01%, or $1.33, at $5.00. Over the last 52 weeks, shares have fluctuated as high as $13.93.