Just a week before a key shareholders vote on the proposed sale of the company, the Carpinteria-based owner of the Carl’s Jr. hamburger chain reported a first-quarter loss of $3.1 million, or 6 cents a share, compared with a profit of $14.4 million, or 26 cents, in 2009.

CKE Restaurants, which also owns the Hardee’s burger chain, was hurt by one-time costs and slammed by more than 12 percent unemployment in its California market. The net loss includes $20.9 million in transaction fees and costs, company officials reported.

In April, CKE accepted a $694 million takeover offer from affiliates of Apollo Management. Company chief Andy Puzder, who owns 1.3 million shares of CKE, is backing the takeover along with key board members.

For the quarter that ended May 17, CKE’s revenue dropped 3 percent to $435.2 million. Same-store sales at company-operated Carl’s Jr. restaurants fell 6.1 percent, while Hardee’s had a same-store sales drop of 1.2 percent.

Analysts on average were expecting the company to earn 18 cents on revenue of $435.3 million. Company-operated restaurant margins narrowed 320 basis points to 16.7 percent on costs related to remodeling activities as well as higher commodity and labor costs.

— Noozhawk contributor Ray Estrada can be reached at news@noozhawk.com.