Fairway Group Posts Q3 Loss

reported a loss in the third quarter. Fairway reported a quarterly loss of $11.1 million, or $0.25 per share, versus a year-ago loss of $31.3 million, or $0.74 per share. Its net sales climbed to $206.2 million versus $205.7 million, versus analysts' estimates of $209.4 million. Adjusted EBITDA fell to $11.7 million from $12.8 million, while adjusted EBITDA margin narrowed to 5.7% from 6.2%. The company's same-store sales slipped 2.2% in the December quarter. Customer transactions in comparable stores dropped 3.2%, while the average transaction size at comparable stores gained 1.0%. Jack Murphy, Fairway's CEO said, "I am extremely pleased with the third quarter performance, but even more impressed with the 4,500 team members I have met over the past few months. The organization has seamlessly embraced change, and with collective focus and discipline we were able to make significant quarter-over-quarter improvements in a number of key areas of the business, including price optimization, productivity of promotions, shrink and labor efficiency." Fairway shares tumbled 14.03% to $4.35 in after-hours trading.