CPK shares drop 19% on profit worries

Shares of California Pizza Kitchen Inc. fell 19% on Tuesday after the restaurant operator warned that its fourth-quarter profit was less than projected and the company reduced its earnings forecast for 2008.

The Century City-based company, which has 228 eateries, said sales growth slowed because of “continuing challenges in the macroeconomic environment.”

In preliminary results, fourth-quarter profit was 16 cents to 18 cents a share, the restaurateur said. In November, it said it would earn no less than 22 cents a share.

Revenue at restaurants open at least a year climbed 1.8%, compared with a 6.9% increase a year earlier. The company had forecast that comparable-restaurant sales would rise 2% to 3%.

Total revenue rose 12% to $162.9 million from a year earlier, the company said. California Pizza Kitchen revised its projection for earnings this year to 54 cents to 60 cents a share, down from 85 to 92 cents.

The company released its statement after the close of trading, when its stock fell 52 cents, or 4.1%, to $12.27. The shares dropped an additional $2.27 to $10 in late trading. The shares sank 30% in 2007.