BATON ROUGE, La. - Piccadilly Cafeterias Inc. reported net income of $1.027 million or 10 cents per share for the quarter that ended Dec. 31, its second straight quarter in the black after struggling with decreasing sales. <br>
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For the same quarter a year ago, the company reported a loss of $587,000 or 6 cents per share. The company is halfway through its 2001-02 fiscal year. For the six-month period, the company reported net income of $2.2 million or 21 cents per share, compared to a loss of $1.8 million or 18 cents per share at the same point a year earlier. <br>
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The latest quarterly earnings report takes into account one-time costs including the refinancing and early retirement of debt. <br>
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The softening of the economy after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks hurt sales in the early part of the quarter, the company said. However, an advertising campaign noting the return of the company's "Dilly" meal was well received by customers and "we believe it contributed to our improved sales trends in the last two months of the quarter," chairman and CEO Ronald Laborde said in a news release. <br>
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