Pizza chain Papa John's International Inc. said Tuesday that its third-quarter profit rose 52 percent as lower sales were offset by a gain on consolidating the results of franchisee-owned cheese purchasing company BIBP Commodities Inc.

The pizza seller, based in Louisville, Ky., earned $11.7 million, or 42 cents per share, in the quarter that ended Sept. 27. That is up from the $7.7 million, or 28 cents per share, it earned a year earlier.

The most recent results were boosted by a $3.2 million gain from BIBP's results. Papa John's uses BIBP Commodities to handle buying and supplying cheese for the company. BIBP purchases cheese at the spot market price and sells it to restaurants at a fixed quarterly price.

Excluding one-time items, adjusted profit of 30 cents per share beat a 26-cent-per-share consensus prediction of analysts polled by Thomson Reuters.

Revenue fell 6 percent to $263.9 million from $280 million as consumers ate out less amid high unemployment and economic uncertainty. Analysts had expected slightly higher sales of $270.8 million.

The company said sales at stores open at least a year were flat during the quarter.

Papa John's raised its full-year 2009 profit forecast to a range of $1.42 to $1.46 from an earlier prediction of $1.38 to $1.44. Analysts expect $1.48 per share, on average.

Its shares rose 66 cents, or 2.9 percent, to close at $23.47 on Tuesday.