US: Penn Traffic losses narrow - but sales fall

By: just-food.com | 10 June 2009

US retailer The Penn Traffic Co. has seen quarterly losses narrow but same-store sales fall by almost 5% during the first quarter of its fiscal year.

The New York-based business, which owns P&C, Quality and BiLo supermarkets in the north-east of the US, booked an underlying net loss of US$8.9m for the three months to 2 May.

The result compared to a net loss of US$10.7m a year ago when Penn Traffic incurred a higher level of one-off charges.

However, same-store sales were down 4.8%. Revenues stood at US$200.1m, although those sales were generated from 82 stores. In last year's first quarter, Penn Traffic reported revenues of US$212.1m from 87 outlets.

President and CEO Gregory Young said: "The lower volume and traffic levels we saw in the first quarter were in line with our internal expectations and offset in part by our aggressive cost-saving measures, allowing us to continue narrowing Penn Traffic's losses.

"At the same time, we continued to invest cash in store renovations and other strategic capital projects, while paying down additional debt."

Sectors: Retail