TJX posts bigger-than-expected quarterly loss on store closures

(Reuters) – Off-price retailer TJX Cos Inc on Wednesday posted a bigger-than-expected quarterly loss, as its stores were shuttered for nearly one-thirds of the quarter due to the lockdown, sending its shares down 5% in premarket trading.

TJX reported a net loss of $214.2 million, or 18 cents per share in the second quarter ended Aug. 1, from a profit of about $759 million, or 62 cents per share last year.

Excluding certain items, the retailer lost 18 cents per share, compared with Wall Street expectations of 10 cents per share, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.

TJX, a go-to for deal-seeking shoppers, also cut working hours and limited the numbers of customers at its stores at a point when other retailers have been doubling-down on promotions.

The company also projected that same-store sales at reopened stores will drop 10-20% in the third quarter, as traffic and demand have moderated after an initial surge following reopening of its stores.

Net sales came in at $6.67 billion, compared with $9.78 billion last year. However, analysts on average were projecting net sales of $6.57 billion.

U.S. same-store sales at its reopened HomeGoods stores rose 20%, while that at its Marmaxx stores fell 6%.

(Reporting by Praveen Paramasivam in Bengaluru, Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)