Triarc swings to 1Q loss on Deerfield-related charge

ATLANTA - Triarc Cos., which is buying Wendy's International Inc., said Friday it swung to a first-quarter loss due to a charge related to Deerfield Capital Corp.

The owner and operator of the Arby's fast-food chain also said it expects the Wendy's acquisition to close during the second half of the year.

Triarc, whose chairman and largest shareholder is billionaire investor Nelson Peltz, is buying Wendy's, the nation's third-largest hamburger chain, in an all-stock deal worth about $2.34 billion.

Triarc reported a first-quarter loss of $67.5 million, or 73 cents per share, compared with a profit of $7.1 million, or 7 cents per share, in the prior year.

For the period ended March 30, revenue edged up 0.3 percent to $302.9 million from $302 million.

In December, Deerfield Capital completed its acquisition of its external manager, Deerfield & Co. LLC, from Triarc, paving the way for Triarc to become a pure-play restaurant company. Triarc was in the midst of a restructuring to shed Deerfield & Co., a Chicago-based fixed income asset manager, so it could focus on the restaurant business.

Quarterly results included an investment loss of $68.1 million related to Deerfield.

In March Triarc's board approved the distribution of Deerfield common stock to its shareholders, which occurred last month.

Systemwide same-store sales rose 0.4 percent during the quarter.

Same-store sales, or sales at stores open at least a year, is a key indicator of retailer performance because it measures growth at existing stores rather than newly opened ones.

Shares of Triarc shed a penny to $6.40 in afternoon trading.

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