Troubled US grocery operator A&P, which entered Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in December, has said its third-quarter results were “in line with expectations”, despite revenue falling.

For the quarter ended 4 December, A&P’s net losses narrowed to US$199.3m from $559.6m in the same quarter of the previous year.

EBITDA losses also narrowed, dropping to $94m against $413m in the same quarter of the previous year.

However, the retailer recorded US$1.8bn sales against $2bn sales in the same quarter in the previous year. Comparable-store sales were down 4.9%.

As part of Chapter 11 petitions, A&P has been approved $800m debtor-in-possession financing, which will allow it to continue to pay local suppliers, vendors and others in the course of business.

President and CEO Sam Martin said: “We saw modest improvement in certain of our third-quarter financial results due to the steps we’ve taken to implement our turnaround plan and the continued dedication of our talented associates. Chapter 11 will allow us to restructure our debt, reduce our structural costs, and address our legacy issues. With access to a significant amount of liquidity, we are making strategic decisions that will enable us to complete our turnaround and emerge with a new capital structure and an enhanced ability to provide value to our customers.”