Williams-Sonoma’s Q4 profits tumble

San Francisco Williams-Sonoma reported a sharply lower quarterly profit on Tuesday, blaming the recession and slumping housing market for lower sales of its home goods. The company said these factors could cause the chain to post a loss for 2009.

The retailer’s net earnings tumbled to $12.2 million in the fourth quarter, ended Feb. 3, from $124.6 million for the same time frame a year ago. Net revenue fell almost 27% to $1.01 billion and same-store sales dropped 22.3%.

For fiscal 2008, net revenues decreased 14.8% to $3.36 billion, compared with $3.94 billion last year. Net revenues also decreased 13.2% and same-store sales decreased 17.2%.

Williams-Sonoma reported that it expects to post losses for the first three quarters of 2009, with a profit in the fourth quarter, which includes the key holiday shopping period.