Carl’s Jr. Plans to Offer 99-Cent Items : Annual meeting: In turnabout from past policy, company will invade unfamiliar territory seeking to recapture lost customers, shareholders are told.

ANAHEIM —  Going where it once vowed it would never tread, the parent company of the Carl’s Jr. hamburger chain is planning a foray into the fast-food pricing battlefield.

Officials of Carl Karcher Enterprises Inc. told stockholders at Wednesday’s annual meeting that the restaurant chain will add “Happy’s Value Menu” of 99-cent food selections. It will continue to sell higher-priced specialty sandwiches such as its new Turkey Club and fancy hamburgers.

The two-tier approach contrasts sharply with previous company policy. At last year’s annual meeting, stockholders were told that the company is known for high-quality food, albeit at slightly higher prices, and that it would stick to its guns until the recession ends.

The recession, though, has dragged on, said Loren Pannier, chief financial officer, who conducted the meeting Wednesday at the Anaheim Marriott Hotel. And marketing studies have shown that Carl’s has lost a key customer segment: regular fast-food consumers who put price over quality.

To try to bring them back, Pannier said, the restaurant chain, based in Anaheim, will soon unveil its 99-cent dishes and promote the new menu with animated TV ads.

Pannier also presented financial results that showed an improvement in annual profit. The overall mood of the meeting, though, seemed somber compared to last year’s hoopla over the hamburger chain’s 50th anniversary.

The company’s stock continues to give a lackluster performance. It closed Wednesday at $7.25 a share, down 13 cents, in over-the-counter trading. Some stockholders complained at the meeting that the price has stayed in a range of $7 to $8 a share since the company went public in 1983. Pannier replied that the company is trying to return the stock price to its level of about three years ago, when it was as high as $18 a share.

Also, the company is still reeling from the recent death of longtime President Donald Karcher, brother of founder and Chairman Carl Karcher. Pannier said a search is underway for a new president.

For the first quarter of its current fiscal year, ended May 18, the company reported a profit of $3.2 million, or 18 cents a share, up 20% from $2.7 million, or 15 cents a share, for the same period a year earlier. Revenue for the quarter, was $158.9 million, down 3.7% from $165 million.

A large part of the increase in profit--almost $2 million--was from interest income gains and other sources beyond the company’s crucial restaurant operations.

Pannier said revenue was down because some of the company’s restaurants are being franchised.