Fort Worth, TX, December 14, 2006--Pier 1 Imports Inc. said its fiscal third-quarter loss widened as sales slumped and marketing costs increased.
The company lost $72.7 million, or 83 cents per share, in the three months ended Nov. 25. In the year-ago period, the loss was $7.2 million, or 6 cents per share.
The latest quarter also included a series of charges that widened the loss by 30 cents per share, primarily for asset impairments. Excluding these, the loss was $46.1 million, or 53 cents per share.
Analysts polled by Thomson Financial were looking for a loss of 34 cents per share.
Sales fell 12 percent to $402.7 million from $456.7 million. Sales at stores open at least a year, a closely watched indicator of retail strength, slumped 12.9 percent.
Pier 1 said its selling costs rose as it boosted marketing to 9.5 percent of sales from 6.6 percent last year. Deep discounts cut into the merchandise margins, pushing them down to 49.7 percent from 52.5 percent.
The company said selling has picked up in December compared with October and November. "Despite weak sales in the home furnishing categories, early sales of our holiday merchandise have been encouraging," the company said
