JACKSONVILLE - Supermarket giant Winn-Dixie Stores Inc. said Wednesday it swung to a loss in its fiscal first quarter as sales fell, its market value plunged and it incurred costs from closing stores and distribution facilities.
Analysts' expectations for revenues were $2.4-billion.
The company's shares plunged nearly 12 percent on the news.
The results included $83.2-million of restructuring and asset impairment charges and $88-million of goodwill impairment charges related to a decline in market capitalization. That resulted in a per-share reduction of 80 cents.
Since announcing its restructuring plan in April, Winn-Dixie shares have lost about half their value. On Wednesday, the company's shares fell 45 cents, or 12.4 percent, to close at $3.17 on the New York Stock Exchange.
Excluding one-time items, the Jacksonville company would have lost $123.6-million, or 88 cents per share, compared with a profit of $5.2-million, 4 cents per share, during the first quarter of fiscal 2004.
Winn-Dixie has been struggling to stay competitive with Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and other food rivals, such as Publix. It has previously announced plans to cut 10,000 jobs and close or sell 156 stores. As of Tuesday, about 4,700 jobs had been cut, 47 stores had been closed and 34 had been or soon were to have been sold or sublet.
Three distribution centers have been closed, and one of those in Tampa was sold in the first quarter, the company said. A center in Louisville, Ky., should be sold or closed in the second quarter.
The closings and sales will leave the supermarket chain with 922 stores and about 90,000 employees.
Jason Whitmer, an analyst for FTN Midwest Research, said Winn-Dixie's outlook hasn't changed much in the last quarter and the company continues to face pressure from its competitors.
"They are going to continue to be in a decline mode," he said. "The longer they stay under water, the more likely they will drown."
