Zale posts larger fiscal 4Q loss partly on charges

Zale posts larger fiscal 4th-quarter loss on charges, decline in key sales figure

Related Quotes

Symbol	Price	Change
ZLC	2.70	0.00

{"s" : "zlc","k" : "c10,l10,p20,t10","o" : "","j" : ""}

DALLAS (AP) -- Zale Corp. reported a significantly larger fiscal fourth-quarter loss on Friday, weighed down by hefty charges for closing stores and other items, and by a decline in sales at stores open at least a year.

The jewelry chain lost $89.8 million, or $2.81 per share, for the three months ended July 31. That compares with a loss of $10 million, or 30 cents per share a year earlier.

Quarterly results included special charges of $70.8 million, or $2.22 per share related to store closings and other items. Removing those items, Zale's quarterly loss was 48 cents per share.

The prior-year period benefited from special gains of $11 million, or 33 cents per share.

Revenue dropped 22 percent to $357.1 million from $456.2 million, with sales at stores open at least a year down 21.2 percent.

Sales at stores open at least a year are a key indicator of retailer performance since they measure growth at existing stores rather than newly opened ones.

CEO Neal Goldberg said the company had a difficult year, but expects things to pick up after closing more than 200 underperforming stores, lowering inventory and implementing cost control efforts.

For the year, Zale reported a loss of $189.5 million, or $5.94 per share, compared with a profit of $631 million, or a penny per share, in the previous year. Its adjusted loss was $2.25 per share.

Annual sales fell 17 percent to $1.78 billion from $2.14 billion.

Zale runs about 1,930 retail locations throughout the U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico.