IHOP Posts Lower Profit Due to One-Time Charge

IHOP Corp., the parent of the International House of Pancakes restaurant chain, said its third-quarter profit slipped 4% from a year earlier because of a one-time charge against earnings.

In the quarter ended Sept. 30, IHOP’s net income fell to $1.29 million from $1.34 million a year earlier. That’s because IHOP incurred a $637,000 after-tax charge stemming from its early retirement of some debt. Excluding the charge, IHOP’s quarterly profit would have jumped 44%, to $1.93 million.

IHOP’s third-quarter revenue rose 6%, to $27.7 million from $26.2 million. For the first nine months of 1991, IHOP’s profit climbed 45%, to $2.82 million from $1.94 million, and its nine-month revenue rose 10%, to $77.8 million from $70.8 million.

The IHOP system includes 499 restaurants in 36 states, Canada and Japan. Of those, IHOP itself operates 56, while franchisees and area licensees operate the balance. Systemwide sales in the first nine months of 1991 rose 7% from a year earlier, to $311 million.