Pizza Pizza generosity knocks company into red

The founder of the Pizza Pizza restaurant chain has quietly given $20-million to charity, delivering the news in a year-end filing that showed the donation knocked his private company into a net loss. Michael Overs set up the Tesari Charitable Foundation in September but there was no announcement because the 66-year-old Toronto resident is "a very private person," Curt Feltner, chief financial officer of Pizza Pizza Ltd., said yesterday. Pizza Pizza Ltd., the operating company of Pizza Pizza Royalty Income Fund, said yesterday it had a loss of $7-million in its financial year ended Oct. 2. That compared with profit of $2.2-million in the prior year. Yesterday's report was the first public filing by Pizza Pizza Ltd., necessitated by the $179.5-million spinoff in July of the income fund. PZA.UN (TSX) fell 6 cents to $10. CP