Jamba Inc. swung to a third-quarter profit as it made progress in its move to an "asset-light" model focused on franchising instead of company-owned stores.

The juice-cafe chain posted same-store sales that beat its Oct. 1 guidance and said it lowered supply-chain costs.

Revenue fell 39% to $35.5 million, reflecting Jamba's refranchising process. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected $37 million.

Systemwide same-store sales rose 5.6%, compared with a projection of 4% to 5% growth. Less discounts led to an increase in the average customer bill compared to the second quarter.

The company reaffirmed its 2015 and 2016 guidance for systemwide same-store sales growth of 2% to 4% each year.

Jamba said Oct. 1 that Chief Executive James White would retire after the board completes a search for his replacement.

For the quarter ended Sept. 29, the company earned $13.1 million, or 81 cents a share, compared with a loss of $1.7 million, or 10 cents a share, a year earlier.

Earnings excluding items rose to 10 cents a share from three cents. Analysts expected earnings excluding items of 21 cents a share.

In July 2014, the company came under pressure from activist investor Engaged Capital LLC to cut costs, close unprofitable shops in New York and sell more company-owned stores to franchisees, a move Jamba said it already was considering.

This January, Jamba agreed to appoint a representative of Engaged Capital and one from activist investor JCP Investment Management LLC to its nine-person board.

At the end of 2008, Jamba had 729 total juice shops, 70% of which the company owned. As of Sept. 29, there were 884 Jamba Juice stores globally, of which 94 were company-owned.

Write to Josh Beckerman at josh.beckerman@wsj.com

Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 09, 2015 18:25 ET (23:25 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2015 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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