A Roanoke-based restaurant company cooked up a 19 percent increase in profits, while sales declined, during the third quarter of this year.

Western Sizzlin Corp. earned $2.94 million, or $1.04 a share, in the three months ended Sept. 30. For the same period last year, the company earned $2.47 million, or $1.37 a share.

Sales dropped 1.8 percent, to $4.44 million from $4.52 million for the year earlier.

Western Sizzlin, a holding company, franchises and operates 113 restaurants in 19 states. It closed five franchise restaurants during the quarter and opened one company-operated eatery.

Revenues for Western Sizzlin's franchise restaurants during the quarter decreased 7.4 percent, while from January through September, franchise sales dropped 5.7 percent. The company attributed the overall decline in franchise revenues to having fewer eateries in 2008 compared with 2007, according to its quarterly report.

From January through September of 2007, there were 116 franchise restaurants, compared with 106 for the same period in 2008.

Through Western Sizzlin Franchise Corp. and Western Sizzlin Stores, the company franchises and operates eateries under the names Western Sizzlin, Western Sizzlin Wood Grill, Western Sizzlin Express, Great American Steak & Buffet and Quincy Steakhouses. Western Sizzlin also recently opened two Wood Grill Buffet restaurants in California. A Norwalk, Calif., eatery opened this month, and a Wood Grill restaurant in Hesperia, Calif., opened in October.

In August, Western Sizzlin debuted a new restaurant concept, Western Sizzlin Express, in Tupelo, Miss. The company's quarterly report describes Western Sizzlin Express as "a smaller, full-service restaurant with a high quality, simpler menu created to turn tables faster in an efficient and pleasing environment." Western Sizzlin is marketing this concept to prospective franchisees as a lower cost investment.

This year, Western Sizzlin has moved to acquire parts or all of other corporations that are not restaurant companies.

In May, it acquired about 9 percent of the total outstanding stock of Itex Corp. In July, Western Sizzlin acquired Mustang Capital Advisors LP and its general partner, Mustang Capital Management LLC, through a new subsidiary, Western Mustang Holdings LLC.

Also, in August, Sardar Biglari, Western Sizzlin's chairman and chief executive officer, became CEO of Steak n Shake Co. He already was chairman of its board of directors.

Western Sizzlin's shares closed Monday at $9.50, unchanged from the previous close.