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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowHHGregg Inc. suffered through a tough end-of-the-year quarter that couldn’t be rescued by holiday shoppers.
The Indianapolis-based appliance, electronics and furniture retailer said Thursday morning that it lost $86.9 million, or $3.10 per share, during its fiscal third period, which ended Dec. 31. That compares with a profit of $5 million, or 17 cents per share, in the same quarter of 2013.
Losses, adjusted for non-recurring costs, were 14 cents per share, missing Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for an adjusted loss of 4 cents per share.
Quarterly revenue fell 5.9 percent, to $665.6 million, missing analyst expectations of $667.7 million.
HHGregg warned investors earlier this month that it expected revenue to fall by about 6 percent.
Sales for HHGregg store locations open at least a year—a key metric in retailing known as comparable-store sales—fell 6.3 percent.
Comparable-store sales fell in every product category. Appliance sales fell 0.1 percent; consumer electronics 3.9 percent; computers 35 percent; and home products 9.2 percent. Appliance sales accounted for 43 percent of revenue and electronics made up 44 percent.
HHGregg shares rose 37 cents in the first hour of trading Thursday, to $5.41 per share. Through Wednesday, shares were down 28 percent since the beginning of the year and 51 percent over the last 12 months.
HHGregg CEO Dennis May said the company is banking on a recent revamp of its executive staff to improve results. The company hired a new merchandising officer in December and chief financial officer in September.
"We are committed to increasing the rate of progress in improving the overall sales and profit trends in the business,” he said in a written statement. “To assist in our efforts, the company has recently hired several new, experienced, senior management team members to drive our strategic initiatives. Additionally, management has engaged experienced retail consultants to assist in rationalizing our marketing spend, optimizing our logistics network and accelerating our overall transformation efforts. We remain confident in our ability to make meaningful improvements in the coming fiscal year."
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