Wendy's/Arby's Earns $14.7 Million In 3Q

ASHLEY M. HEHER

CHICAGO (AP) — Dollar drinks, sandwiches and desserts will join more Arby's menus as the struggling fast-food chain jumps on the deep-discount bandwagon aimed at wooing customers who have fled its higher-priced meals.

The plan is a bid to boost sagging sales at the chain that led its parent company, Wendy's/Arby's Group Inc. on Thursday to post only a thin profit for the third quarter.

The fast-food chain is already trying to attract customers with its $5 combo meals for certain roast beef sandwiches. But executives said Thursday that they'll make a newly developed $1 menu more widely available in hopes of improving performance at the chain.

The menu, which includes chicken, ham and cheese, and small roast beef sandwiches, has been in testing for 10 months, mostly in the Southeast.

Arby's, owned along with Wendy's by Wendy's/Arby's Group Inc., saw revenue slide nearly 7 percent during the third quarter. Meanwhile, sales in restaurants open at least a year sank 9 percent because fewer customers gulped down its sandwiches and shakes. The figure is an important restaurant performance measure.