A.C. Moore 4Q, FY sales disappoint

BERLIN, N.J. A.C. Moore Arts & Crafts announced that sales for the fourth quarter of 2009 were $149.7 million, a decrease of 9.3% compared with sales of $165 million during the fourth quarter of last year. Comparable-store sales for the quarter were down 8.8%.

Net loss for the quarter was $0.5 million, or 2 cents per share, compared with a net loss of $13 million or 64 cents per share for the fourth quarter of 2008.

Sales for fiscal 2009 year were $468.9 million, a decrease of 12.3% compared with sales of $534.7 million for fiscal 2008. Comparable-store sales for the year were down 10.8%.

The net loss for fiscal 2009 was $25.9 million, or $1.15 per share, versus a net loss of $26.6 million, or $1.31 per share, in fiscal 2008.

Rick Lepley, CEO, stated, “Obviously, we are not pleased with our performance for last year. But, we did make significant progress on many of our strategic initiatives during 2009 that we believe will lead to improved operations by the end of 2010.”