More Red Ink at Clothestime

Clothestime Inc., a women’s apparel chain, said Friday that its losses widened in its fiscal second quarter to $4.2 million, or 30 cents a share, mostly from sagging sales and costs related to its bankruptcy filing.

The company managed to post a meager operating profit of $28,000 for the quarter ended July 27, but that was wiped out by reorganization costs of $4.3 million, more than three times the bankruptcy-related costs in the first quarter.

In last year’s second quarter, Clothestime lost $449,000, or 3 cents a share. Sales for the quarter fell 33% to $59.5 million from $89.3 million in last year’s second quarter as the company closed 190 stores in the last year. It now has 364 outlets.

For the first six months, it posted a net loss of $10 million, or 71 cents a share, compared with a net loss of $4.8 million, or 34 cents a share, for the same period last year. Sales fell 36% in the period to $103.2 million from $161.6 million.

In late July, Clothestime was delisted from the Nasdaq market system when its stock price fell below $1 a share, the minimum price required by the exchange. Clothestime, which operates in 17 states and Puerto Rico, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in December.