May’s Profit Drops 69% in Quarter

May Department Stores Co. said profit fell 69%, the seventh straight quarterly decline, due to costs from combining divisions and a drop in sales.

Third-quarter net income slumped to $16 million, or 5 cents a share, from $52 million, or 16 cents, in the year-earlier period. Sales in the three months ended Nov. 2 fell 4.1% to $3.05 billion, the St. Louis company said. Sales at stores open at least a year fell 7.3%.

May, the owner of Lord & Taylor and Filene’s, is the first major retailer to release earnings this quarter. Its shares fell 4 cents to close at $22.44 on the NYSE.