RJ Dourney, president and c.e.o. of Cosi, said the company doesn't expect to generate positive cash flows from operations by end of 2015.

BOSTON — Cosi Inc. sustained a loss of $3,912,000 in the third quarter ended Sept. 28, which compared with a loss of $4,148,000 in the same period a year ago.

Revenues in the period increased 22% to $23,517,000 from $19,209,000. Cosi said the revenue gain reflected the conversion of 13 franchise restaurants to company-owned as a result of its merger with Hearthstone, which was completed on April 1.

“We have continued to implement Hearthstone’s proven model of success across the entire system and are encouraged by the improved cash flows we are seeing in segments of our portfolio,” said RJ Dourney, president and chief executive officer. “At the same time, we have not seen the movement we expected in our most challenged restaurants, which continue to impact the cash flow gains we are seeing in the rest of our portfolio. We are working on a plan to deal with those restaurants. We are also right-sizing our overhead and capital expenditures. We believe these three cash management levers, together with the improvements we are seeing in sales and operating margins, will position us well to go into 2016 with the resources we need to enter the next phase of our turnaround.”

Cosi said the cost of food and beverages, as a percentage of restaurant net sales, decreased by 1.6% during the third quarter. The decrease primarily was attributed to operational improvements and stability in the costs of certain contracted commodities.

For the nine months ended Sept. 28, Cosi posted a loss of $10,827,000, which compared with a loss of $11,586,000 in the same period a year ago. Revenues were $65,874,000, up 13% from $58,254,000.