Papa John’s swings to a loss as fallout from spat with founder weighs on profits

Papa John’s swung to a loss in the first quarter as the steps the embattled pizza chain is taking to bolster its business and legal fees hit earnings.

But excluding these charges, the company topped Wall Street’s expectations. Shares seesawed in extended trading Tuesday, sometimes rising as much 5% before trending back downward.

The company reported first-quarter net loss of $3.80 million, or 12 cents per share, down from net income of $17.4 million, or 52 cents per share, a year earlier.

Last July, sales cratered after it was reported that founder John Schnatter used the n-word on a conference call. After…