In a filing with the Securities &Exchange Commission last week, Crown Books said that it had a net loss of $32.7 million for the second quarter ended Aug. 1, 1998, compared to a loss of $4 million in the similar period in fiscal 1998. Sales in the second quarter were $55.1 million, down from $67 million in the same period last year.
Crown said the decline in sales was due primarily to interruptions in inventory supply resulting from the chain's liquidity problems, which resulted in comparable-store sales falling 17.8% in the quarter and 9.4% for the six months. The $32-million loss consists of $8.6 million in operating losses before extraordinary items, with the balance of $24.3 million due to reorganization charges related to its Chapter 11 filing, including $9 million for a closed-store reserve, $6.8 million due to a write-down of assets and $5.9 million in inventory revaluation. As of September 15, Crown was operating 128 stores, 38 of which were conducting going out of business sales, and had closed 42 outlets.
While the company tries to fight its way through bankruptcy, its stock is no longer trading on NASDAQ. Crown last traded on NASDAQ September 18 at 44 cents per share.
