Struggling consumer electronics retailer Best Buy Co. Inc. (BBY) reported a sharply narrower fourth-quarter net loss attributable to the company's shareholders of $409 million, or $1.21 per share, versus a $1.82 billion, or $5.17 per share loss, a year back.
On a non-GAAP basis, net earnings from continuing operations totaled $1.64 per share for the reporting period. On average, 22 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected earnings per share of $1.54 for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude one-time items.
The firm clocked revenue of $16.71 billion for the recent quarter, compared with last year's $16.67 billion, while it beat consensus estimates of $16.34 billion.
Domestic revenue of $12.55 billion declined 0.3% year-over-year, driven by the loss of revenue from 49 big box stores that were closed earlier in the year, but was substantially offset by a positive 0.9% comparable store sales growth and incremental revenue from 126 additional Best Buy Mobile stand-alone stores. However, comparable-store sales in the quarter benefitted from an estimated 35 basis points, due to a calendar shift in this year's "pre-Super Bowl" sales from first quarter fiscal 2014 to fourth quarter fiscal 2013, the company noted.
Over the last several weeks, the company enacted Phase One of its Renew Blue Cost reductions, totaling $150 million in annualized savings and including an initial headcount reduction of some 400 people.
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