California Pizza’s Profit Falls 39% in 4th Quarter

California Pizza Kitchen Inc. said its fourth-quarter net income fell 39%, weighed by stock option expenses, store closures and legal settlement costs.

The Los Angeles company earned $3.5 million, or 17 cents a share, down from $5.7 million, or 29 cents, a year earlier. Excluding certain costs, the company would have earned $5.9 million, or 29 cents, a penny short of expectations. Revenue rose 9% to $125.4 million. Sales at restaurants open at least a year rose 5.3%.

The results were released after the markets closed. After closing down 48 cents at $32.67 in regular trading, the stock slid 2% after hours before recovering.

The company forecasts first-quarter earnings of 21 cents to 22 cents a share, including stock option expenses and the effects of a change in accounting for leases, and earnings of 27 cents to 28 cents a share excluding the expenses.