Fort Worth, TX, August 23--Pier 1 Imports has cut is second quarter outlook and said it expects a larger than expected loss during the quarter. The company cited a decline in customer traffic and a steep drop in same-store sales.
August same-store sales, according to the company, are forecast to decrease 13 percent to 15 percent from the previous year. Same-store sales for the second quarter ended are estimated to drop between 8 percent and 9 percent.
Chairman and Chief Executive Marvin J. Girouard said, "Customer traffic in August continued to decline and as a result, we aggressively managed inventories through promotional discounts and markdowns in order to facilitate new product arrivals."
Quarterly losses are now estimated in the range of $0.12 to $0.14 per share. Earlier this month, Pier 1 projected results at the low end of a prior range of a loss of $0.07 per share to a profit of $0.03.
On average, analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial are looking for a second quarter loss of $0.06 per share and $447.7 million in sales. Pier 1 earned $0.12 per share on sales of $452 million in last year's quarter.
