Hamburger Hamlet Reports Earnings Decline

Hamburger Hamlet Restaurants Inc., the Sherman Oaks owner and operator of a chain of 31 restaurants, reported a 29% decline in earnings in the three months that ended March 28.

The company’s first-quarter profit was $466,000, down from $654,000 in earnings a year before. Its revenue increased 16%, to $17.4 million, from $15.1 million.

Hamburger Hamlet attributed the drop in profits to its temporary closing of four Washington, D.C., restaurants during a March snowstorm, as well as heavy winter rains and a continued weak economy in Southern California, where most of its restaurants are.