Cost Plus 4Q Loss Widens On Charges

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Specialty home retailer Cost Plus Inc. said Thursday its fourth-quarter loss widened due to a decline in sales and hefty charges for workforce reductions and store closures.

For the quarter ended Jan. 31, the company reported a loss of $18.3 million, or 83 cents per share, compared with a loss of $12.5 million, or 56 cents per share, in the prior-year period.

The results included impairment charges related to inventory reduction, layoffs and store closures. The company closed 26 stores in the period.

Cost Plus did not offer a figure for its profit excluding the charges. A call to the company was not immediately returned. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected a profit of 24 cents per share. Analyst estimates typically exclude one-time charges.

Revenue fell 4 percent to $354.8 million from $369.3 million, but topped analysts' $346.6 million estimate.

Same-store sales, or sales at stores open at least a year, fell 6.1 percent. Traffic, however, was positive, the company said.

For the year, the company posted a loss of $102.7 million, or $4.65 per share, compared with a loss of $55.5 million, or $2.51 per share in 2007. Revenue rose to $1 billion from $995.7 million.

Cost Plus shares fell 15 cents, or 15.8 percent, to close at 80 cents.