hhgregg Posts Wider Q4 Loss

reported a wider loss for the fiscal fourth quarter on Friday. The Indianapolis, Indiana-based company reported a quarterly loss of $25.2 million, or $0.91 per share, versus a year-ago loss of $7.2 million, or $0.25 per share, in the year-ago period. Excluding one-time items, the company's adjusted loss widened to $0.47 per share from $0.17 per share. Its revenue dropped to $485.6 million from $538.3 million. However, analysts were expecting a loss of $0.24 per share on revenue of $515.39 million. The average estimate among 5 Estimize users was for a loss of $0.25 per share and revenue of $512.69 million. Its comparable store sales slipped 10.0 percent in the quarter. Its gross profit margin rose around 27 basis points to 28.6 percent in the fourth quarter, from 28.3 percent in the year-ago quarter. During the quarter, hhgregg did not repurchase any shares. During the fiscal year ended March 31, 2015, hhgregg repurchased 0.8 million shares at an average price of $6.32 per share. Dennis May, President and Chief Executive Officer, commented, "Our fourth quarter results were challenging, however, I am pleased with the significant progress we have made on our transformational efforts. Our top fiscal 2016 initiatives are centered on improving our cost structure through the optimization of our marketing dollars, the reduction of our operating expenses and more efficiently managing our working capital, along with reversing our negative sales trends." Hhgregg shares fell 5.05 percent to close at $5.27 yesterday.