Parent of Carl’s Jr. Cutting Jobs, Other Costs to Boost Profit

Carl Karcher Enterprises on Thursday began laying off about 60 of the 460 employees at its Anaheim headquarters and cutting corporate functions in a restructuring designed to trim annual operating costs by $10 million.

Those being laid off by the parent company of the Carl’s Jr. hamburger chain range from corporate vice presidents to blue-collar workers. The restructuring is driven by a “mandate from the board to increase profitability,” said Donald E. Doyle, the company’s president and chief executive.

The layoffs come less than a month after Karcher’s outside board members rejected a leveraged buyout bid by Karcher founder Carl N. Karcher, 75, and Freeman Spogli & Co., a Los Angeles investment group.

In December, Karcher board members strongly suggested that a restructuring was forthcoming. Board members directed management to deal “aggressively” with operating costs so that the company could “achieve its full (profit) potential.” And they hired Doyle, a former Kentucky Fried Chicken executive.

In Thursday’s trading on the NASDAQ market, Karcher’s stock was unchanged at $8.25 a share.