Macy’s reports over 20% fall in quarterly comparable sales

(Reuters) – Macy’s Inc reported a 20.2% drop in quarterly comparable sales on Thursday, hurt by a coronavirus-led fall in retail store traffic that signaled a tough holiday season ahead for the department store chain.

The retailer’s shares fell 2% in premarket trading. Its stock has lost nearly half its value in a tumultuous year in which it has had to lay off thousands of workers, suffer through plunging sales due to outlet closures.

Net sales fell to $3.99 billion from $5.17 billion in the third quarter ended Oct. 31, but beat analysts’ estimates of $3.86 billion, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.

The company posted an adjusted net loss of $60 million, or 19 cents per share, compared with earnings of $21 million, or 7 cents per share, a year earlier.

(Reporting by Uday Sampath in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel)