Carter Hawley Hale’s Loss Is Larger Than Forecast

Carter Hawley Hale Stores, hurt by flat sales at its department stores, on Thursday posted a bigger-than-expected loss of $6.6 million for the third quarter.

The Los Angeles company, parent of the Broadway and other retail chains, lost $3.2 million during the same quarter a year earlier. Its stock fell 12.5 cents on the news, closing at a 52-week low of $5 on the New York Stock Exchange.

Carter Hawley has been losing money in every quarter except the one that includes the Christmas shopping season--largely a result of the debt it took on three years ago to thwart a takeover attempt. Along with hefty interest expenses, it was hurt in the quarter ended April 29 by weak revenue.

Sales totaled $590.9 million, up 0.8% from a year earlier. Among stores open for all of the past year, the increase in sales was just 0.3%.

The company attributed its sales performance partly to its decision to hold down expenses instead of taking part in the rampant price-cutting that many retailers are engaging in.

N. Richard Nelson, an analyst with Duff & Phelps in Chicago, said the quarterly report prompted him to lower his 1990 earnings estimate for Carter Hawley to around $9.1 million from $10.4 million. Still, he said, Carter Hawley is in better shape than some of its debt-heavy competitors.

For the first nine months of the fiscal year, the company lost $480,000 on sales that climbed 4.6% to $2.23 billion. The year-to-date results were hurt by a charge of $10.5 million taken to cover expenses from the October earthquake in the Bay Area.