UPDATE 2-Krispy Kreme Q4 loss narrows, says franchisees stronger

* Q4 per-share results near breakeven

* Says to open stores in China, Malaysia, Turkey

* Says franchisees stronger than last year

* Direct oper expenses fall to $80.1 mln v $96.8 mln

* Shares close up 52 pct

(Recasts, adds background, conference call details, closing price)

April 16 (Reuters) - Krispy Kreme Doughnuts Inc (KKD.N) posted a narrower fourth-quarter loss helped by lower direct operating expenses and charges and falling commodity prices, sending shares up as much as 52 percent.

Krispy Kreme, which competes with privately held Dunkin' Brands Inc, went public in 2001 with a successful offering, but has been struggling with restatements, investigations into its past accounting and a decline in doughnut sales that has seen some franchisees go bankrupt.

However, in a conference call with analysts, Chief Financial Officer Doug Muir said franchisees are stronger today than they were a year ago, and that there will probably be more franchisee openings than closings next year.

Bad debts for fiscal 2009 were at $300,000, Muir said. "Taking the one-off items out of this year's number, bad debts were down this year compared to the $8.0 million we saw in fiscal 2008," he said.

Chief Executive Jim Morgan said the chain is scheduled to open stores in China, Malaysia and Turkey.

"The strategic initiatives we put in place in the last year are showing early signs of taking hold," Morgan said in the call, adding that he expects progress to continue into fiscal 2010 and beyond.

The company, famous for its glazed doughnuts, has also been helped by lower commodity costs, CFO Muir said. This has enabled the company to reduce prices charged to company stores and franchisees, most notably for donut mix and shortening.

For the fourth quarter, the Winston-Salem, North Carolina-based company posted a net loss of $303,000 or just below breakeven, compared with $31.8 million, or 50 cents a share, a year earlier.

Revenue fell to $91.8 million from $110.9 million a year earlier.

Same store sales at company-owned stores rose 0.9 percent in the fourth quarter.

The sweet treats chain also said it agreed with its lenders on amendments to its credit facilities that should help the company to remain in compliance with the agreements and continue to have backup sources of liquidity.

Krispy Kreme's shares closed at $3.46, up 51.75 percent Wednesday on the New York Stock Exchange. (Reporting by Nivedita Bhattacharjee, Mihir Dalal in Bangalore, Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)