Hhgregg misses in Q4, loss widens

Indianapolis – Consumer electronics retailer Hhgregg Inc. had anything but an electric fourth quarter of fiscal 2015, missing Wall Street expectations for profit and revenue. Net loss widened to $25.23 million from $7.24 million the same quarter a year earlier.



Net sales shrunk 10% to $485.6 million from $538.3 million. Same-store sales also fell 10%. Rising selling, general and administrative (SG&A) expenses, as well as a non-cash asset impairment, helped increase net loss.



Hhgregg says it has identified more than $50 million in savings for fiscal 2016, and will improve cost structure through the optimization of marketing dollars, reduction of operating expenses and more efficiently managing working capital.



“We have identified several areas throughout the company where we believe we can be more efficient with our spend,” said Dennis May, president and CEO. “In addition to operating expenses, we will also be working to selectively rationalize our footprint and work to free up working capital through inventory optimization.”



For the full fiscal year, Hhgregg reported net loss of $132.75 million, compared to net income of $228,000 the prior fiscal year. Net sales dropped 5% to $2.13 million from $2.34 million.