Marsh Posts 2Q Loss, Considers Sale

Indianapolis, Marsh Supermarkets Inc. posted a second-quarter loss Tuesday, reversing a year-ago profit, and said that it was considering a sale of the company.

The company posted a loss of $3.4 million, or 43? per share, compared with a profit of $1.3 million, or 16? per share, a year ago. Revenue rose 5% to $549.6 million from $524.9 million. Same-store merchandise sales fell 0.7% when gasoline sales were excluded.

The company said that it hired Merrill Lynch to help it explore strategic alternatives including a possible sale, and suspended future quarterly cash dividends until financial performance improved.