Loss narrows; sales fall 5%

Clothing retailer Pacific Sunwear of California Inc. said it narrowed its fiscal third-quarter loss and total sales fell 5% as cautious consumers continued to pull back on their spending.

The company said it posted a net loss of $2.5 million, or 4 cents a share, for the period that ended Nov. 1, compared with a loss of $20 million, or 29 cents, a year earlier.

The company said the quarter included a goodwill impairment charge of about $4.2 million, or 6 cents a share.

Results from continuing operations, which exclude results from businesses that have been sold or are in the process of being sold, amounted to a loss of $3.5 million, or 5 cents a share, compared with income of $17.1 million, or 25 cents, from the previous year.

Analysts had predicted the company would earn a penny a share in the quarter, according to Thomson Reuters.

Pacific Sunwear said sales for the quarter fell 5.3% to $323.6 million.

The Anaheim-based firm said it expected to post a loss in the fourth quarter, given the sluggish retail environment.

The third-quarter results came after the market closed.

The company’s shares rose 12 cents, or 9.4%, to $1.40.