Trans World Falls to 1st-Quarter Loss

Trans World Entertainment Corp. said Thursday it fell to a fiscal fourth-quarter loss, hurt by an impairment charge, tax expense and one less week in the period.

The specialty retailer of entertainment software reported a loss of $66 million, or $2.12 per share, compared with a profit of $37.8 million, or $1 per share, in the prior year.

Quarterly results included a $30.7 million, or 99 cents per share, impairment charge and a tax expense of $43.4 million, or $1.39 per share.

The year-ago period also benefited from one extra week.

Income tax expense increased to $64.8 million from $24.1 million.

Revenue for the period ended Feb. 2 fell 23 percent to $451.5 million from $586.7 million in the previous year.

Same-store sales declined 12 percent in the quarter. Same-store sales, or sales at stores open at least a year, is a key indicator of retailer performance since it measures growth at existing stores rather than newly opened ones.

For the year, Trans World reported a loss of $99.4 million, or $3.20 per share, compared with a profit of $11.7 million, or 3 cents per share, a year earlier.

Full-year same-store sales slipped 8 percent.

Annual sales dipped to $1.27 billion, down 14 percent from $1.47 billion.