Panera Bread Company: Latest Subprime Victim

In its fourth-quarter earnings release, at 11 p.m. ET Wednesday, Panera (PNRA) took a 3 cent per share charge from a write-down of its investment in the ill-fated Columbia Strategic Cash Portfolio, and another write-down on the discontinuance of its Crispani pizza product.

The $12 billion Columbia fund, which closed late last year, was an alternative (higher risk, higher-yielding) money-market fund run by Bank of America; the bank blamed subprime-related losses.

Crispani, meanwhile, was once hailed as the company’s savior for supper. The company hinted last quarter that the product was in peril.

Back to the drawing boards. (And so much for trying to goose investment returns with risky cash.)

The beat goes on…