Tough year, tough quarter for Neiman Marcus

The nation’s premier luxury department store retailer posted declines in profit and revenue for fiscal 2016.



For the full year, Neiman Marcus Group posted a $406.11 million loss, compared to an income of $14.95 million in 2015.



For the fourth quarter, the retailer posted a loss of $407.25, compared to a loss of $32.88 million in the year-ago period.



The dips were attributed to $466.2 million in non-cash impairment charges incurred during the fourth quarter.



The company also had to take more markdowns during the quarter due to soft demand, hurting gross margin, CEO Karen Katz said on the retailer’s quarterly conference call.



Revenue decreased 2.9% percent $4.95 billion in 2016, from $5.1 billion in 2015.



For the quarter, sales totaled $1.13 billion, down 3.3% from $1.17 billion for the same period last year. Same-store sales for the quarter and year fell 4.1%.



It’s been a rough 12 months for Neiman Marcus. The retailer has been the subject of rumors that it’s on the selling block, and also that CEO Katz is leaving the company (she is not).