A&P's 4Q Loss Widens on Pathmark Acquisition Costs

Montvale, N.J. Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co. said Tuesday its fiscal fourth-quarter loss widened on costs related to its acquisition of Pathmark Stores Inc.

The parent company of A&P and other supermarket chains reported a loss of $61.5 million compared with a loss of $7.2 million a year earlier. Losses from continuing operations quadrupled to $44.6 million compared with a loss of $11 million.

Quarterly sales for the period ended Feb. 23 soared 73% to $2.2 billion from $1.27 billion, beating Wall Street's estimate of $2.19 billion.

Same-store sales rose 3%, excluding sales related to Pathmark, which was acquired at the beginning of the quarter for $665 million. Pathmark same-store sales edged up 1.5%.

For the year, the company reported a loss of $160.7 million compared with a profit of $26.9 million a year ago. Income from continuing operations climbed to $87 million from $12.8 million.

Annual revenue increased to $6.4 billion, up 19% from $5.37 billion in the previous year.