US-based food retailer Winn-Dixie Stores has reported a net loss of $8.06 million, or $0.15 per share, for the first quarter ended September 16, 2009, compared to a net loss of $2.27 million, or $0.04 per diluted share, for the same quarter of fiscal 2009.
For the first quarter of fiscal 2010, net sales were $1.64 billion, a decrease of 2%, compared to $1.67 billion for the same quarter of fiscal 2009.
Peter Lynch, Winn-Dixie's chairman, CEO and president, said: "The economic climate continued to impede our growth during the quarter and caused our adjusted EBITDA to fall below last year's levels. Identical store sales declined due to the absence of storm-related sales that we experienced last year and a shift by consumers towards generic pharmaceuticals. These factors, coupled with deflationary trends in many of the items we sell, led to a decline in basket size for the chain."