Jamba Inc., the owner of the Jamba Juice smoothie-store chain, on late Tuesday reported a first-quarter net loss as operating expenses rose.

Emeryville-based Jamba Inc. posted a loss of $6.43 million, or 12 cents a share, compared with net income of $11.9 million, or 20 cents, a year earlier, the company said in a statement. Costs rose 24 percent to $121.1 million.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had, on average, expected a loss of 12 cents a share.

Revenue rose 14 percent to $101.6 million from $89.4 million a year earlier, compared to the mean estimate of $101.3 million.

Comparable-store sales at company-owned outlets slid 4.2 percent, hurt primarily by a sales drop in California, which comprises 76 percent of the comparable-store sales base, the company said.

While our first-quarter results did not meet our expectations, I believe that we have the right strategy in place to transform our business to a healthy living company, improve the performance of our existing stores, and increase shareholder value,'' Chief Executive Officer Paul Clayton said in the statement.

Jamba announced on May 15 that it was closing 10 underperforming company-owned stores and slashing 53 jobs.

Jamba rose 30 cents, or 14 percent, to $2.50 as of 4 p.m. New York time in trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market.

California