Coldwater ends 3Q better than expected

SANDPOINT - Coldwater Creek reported smaller-than-expected losses for its fiscal third quarter Tuesday, which company officials attribute to successful cost-cutting measures.

For fiscal third quarter ending Nov. 1, the company's loss narrowed to $1.3 million, or a penny per share, compared with a deficit of $6.2 million, or 7 cents per share, a year earlier. Sales fell 16 percent to $228.5 million from $271.2 million. Same-store sales, or sales at locations open at least one year, fell 20.5 percent.

Even with the losses, the results were better than the company had anticipated. Earlier this month it released a revised third quarter estimate warning of losses in the seven-to-nine cent per share range for the quarter.

In a conference call after results were announced, CEO Dan Griesemer said despite the better-than-expected numbers, Coldwater Creek was not where it needs to be, economically.

"We are not satisfied with our third quarter results, and while the external environment remains challenging, our business benefited from better-than-anticipated cost saving measures across a number of areas, resulting in third quarter financial performance that exceeds our revised guidance," he said.

Coldwater Creek's selling, general and administrative expenses fell 25 percent to $88.8 million from $117.6 million, as its cost reducing measures worked better than expected.

For the quarter, retail sales fell to $175.4 million from $186.3 million, a decline of 6 percent. Direct sales, or sales made by the phone or online, sank 38 percent, to $53 million from $84.9 million.

The company opened 19 stores during the quarter, and has opened 8 since the end of the quarter, giving it a total of 349.