Regis Corp. turned the hair clippers on itself in the past year, shuttering nearly 700 of its hair salons and restoration centers and using layoffs to shear administrative expenses by about 11 percent.

The Edina-based hair-care giant, which operates such chains as Mastercuts, Trade Secret and Cost Cutters, let investors know today how the company performed during the first three months of 2009.

The results show a smaller company with smaller profits -- net income is down about 53 percent to $8.8 million, compared with the $18.9 million the company earned during its third financial quarter in 2008.

CEO Paul Finkelstein said he's encouraged by the performance. The company's profits from "continuous operations" -- not counting stores or units that have closed or are expected to -- actually saw a slight increase, compared with a year ago, from $19 million to $21 million.

Still, the company wouldn't even guess whether the worst has passed. It declined to give investors an estimate for what its profits would be for the next few months and doesn't plan to until "economic conditions normalize."

"Today," Finkelstein said, "it is still far too difficult to predict how long and how deep this recession will be."