Williams-Sonoma posts 1st-quarter loss

Williams-Sonoma Inc. on Wednesday posted a fiscal first-quarter loss because of a drop in sales.

The San Francisco-based home decor retailer recorded a loss of $18.7 million, or 18 cents per share, including 4 cents per share in early lease termination charges for underperforming stores. In the same period last year, the company earned $10.4 million, or 10 cents per share.

Sales declined 22 percent to $611.6 million from $781.8 million.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected a loss of 21 cents per share and sales of $609.9 million for the period ending May 3. Analysts typically exclude one-time items from their estimates.

Same-store sales, or sales at stores open at least one year, declined 21 percent. Same-store sales are an important retail performance indicator because they measure sales at existing stores rather than newly opened ones.

Chief Executive Howard Lester said the company cut back on advertising expenses, lowered inventory, and reduced capital spending.

"While the home furnishings sector continued to be under significant pressure in the first quarter, we focused on the aspects of the business we could control and delivered substantially better-than-expected earnings results," Lester said in a statement.