Saks Posts $155M Loss for FY 2008

NEW YORK CITY-Saks Inc. posted a net loss of $98.8 million for the fourth quarter and a net loss of $154.9 million for fiscal 2008, both of which ended Jan. 31, the locally based high end retailer announced on Wednesday. In a statement, Stephen I. Sadove, chairman and CEO, blames “deteriorating macroeconomic conditions” for the company’s sales results and operating performance. The company had posted positive numbers for the same time periods a year prior.

“It is our expectation that the economic environment will remain extremely challenging through 2009, if not beyond, and we have planned accordingly,” Sadove says in the statement. “We continue to focus on what we can control, and I am pleased with how our organization has risen to the challenge. I am confident we have taken and will continue to take the decisive actions needed in response to the environment and to better position the company for the future when economic conditions improve.”

The company’s comparable store sales declined 15.3% in Q4, compared to a 9%-gain in comp-store sales in the same period a year earlier. Sadove says in a statement that this decline cut across “all geographies, merchandise categories and channels of distribution. Soft performance in the company’s New York City flagship store, which began in the third quarter, persisted into the fourth. Women’s apparel continued to be the most challenging merchandise category.” He adds that while the retailer’s “aggressive” discounting cut into its margins, it also helped produce “meaningful progress” in reducing inventories.