Special charges and weaker sales led Movado Group Inc. to post the widened fourth-quarter loss the company recently forecast.
In the three months ended Jan. 31, the Paramus, N.J.-based watchmaker recorded a loss of $23.6 million, or 96 cents a diluted share, versus a loss of $22.8 million, or 93 cents a share, last year.
The results included an $8.8 million pretax noncash reserve for excess inventory and a $7.6 million pretax impairment charge related primarily to a writedown of the Movado boutiques. The company had detailed the onetime items when it previewed its fourth-quarter results last month.
Movado’s adjusted loss narrowed to 28 cents a share from 36 cents a share in the comparable 2008 period. Analysts polled by Yahoo Finance had expected an adjusted loss of 31 cents on average.
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Sales in the fourth quarter fell 1.9 percent to $92.2 million from $94 million. The company said its wholesale sales held flat at $61.6 million for the quarter, as a pickup in the licensed brands business offset a decline in wholesale luxury sales. The retail segment saw sales fall 8.6 percent in the quarter to $29.6 million.
For all of fiscal 2010, the company’s loss totaled $54.6 million, or $2.23 a share, compared with fiscal 2009, when it showed profits of $2.3 million, or 9 cents a share. Sales in the 12 months fell 17.9 percent to $378.4 million from $460.9 million.
Chairman and chief executive officer Efraim Grinberg said on a conference call the company plans to spend the current fiscal year building its top line. “Specifically, we’ll focus on driving creativity with Movado, Ebel and ESQ by Movado to take advantage of the improving global environment,” Grinberg said.
Shares of Movado fell 16 cents, or 1.4 percent, to close at $11.12 in trading Thursday. Shares lost 19 percent to close at $11.42 on March 16, the first trading day after the company issued preliminary results and promoted Rick Cote to president.