Saks Loses $25M in First Quarter but Has Cash on Hand of $100M

ATLANTA-Saks Inc. lost $25.4 million or 17 cents per share in its first fiscal quarter that ended May 4. That performance compares with net income of $26.5 million or 18 cents per share in the same 2001 period, the Birmingham, AL-based retailer reports.

The balance sheet news wasn’t all bad, however, for the Alabama company that operates Saks Department Store Group and Saks Fifth Avenue Enterprises. Saks reduced its debt load by $287 million to $1.34 billion and borrowed nothing under its $700 million revolving credit facility.

“The debt balance at May 4 is approximately $643 million below the level at the end of the first quarter two years ago,” Saks chairman/CEO R. Brad Martin says in a prepared statement.