Susser moves to Q4 loss on higher costs, sales beat Street

Corpus Christi, Texas Convenience store operator Susser Holdings Corp. said Friday that it swung to a loss in the fourth quarter, hurt by higher operating costs, aggressive pricing from competitors and customers trading down to cheaper products.

Susser lost $5.7 million in the quarter ended Jan. 3, compared with a profit of $6.3 million in the year-ago period.

Revenue for the period rose to $921.2 million from $795.3 million, helped by higher fuel prices and gallons sold, an extra week in the period and increased merchandise sales partly due to the cigarette tax increase implemented in April.

This topped Wall Street's $890.4 million.

Same-store sales dipped 1.2%.

The company operated 525 stores at year's end.