Tuesday Morning posts loss

-- Home Textiles Today, 10/27/2009 6:49:00 AM

Dallas – Tuesday Morning today reported a first-quarter loss of $4.7 million, or 11 cents per share. That was slightly wider than last year’s first-quarter loss of $4.3 million, or 10 cents per share.

Sales for the quarter ended Sept. 30 fell 4.3% to $165.9 million. Comps dropped 5.8% owing to a 1.7% decline in traffic and a 4.1% decrease in average ticket.

The 850-store retailer offered little commentary with the results. "We are encouraged by the positive trends we experienced in September,” said Kathleen Mason, president and ceo. She did not describe those trends.

Inventory, expenses and payroll were all down compared to the year-ago quarter. The company whacked its revolver balance by 85% on a year-over-year basis to $5.3 million and had $130.9 million in availability under its credit facility at the end of September.