UPDATE 1-Fred's Q4 sales lag estimates; cuts profit forecast
Feb 5 (Reuters) - Discount-store operator Fred's Inc (FRED.O) posted a 5 percent fall in fourth-quarter sales that missed analysts' estimates, hurt in part by adverse weather and lower pharmacy sales, and cut its earnings forecast for the period.
The company, which posted quarterly sales of $469.4 million, now expects operating earnings of 15 cents a share to 18 cents a share. It had earlier expected to earn 17 cents a share to 21 cents a share.
Analysts, on average, were expecting earnings of 24 cents a share, on revenue of $477.9 million, according to Reuters Estimates.
For the month of January, sales at stores open at least a year fell 2 percent, while total sales for the period fell 5 percent reflecting the closure of underperforming stores and pharmacies.
Sales in the last week of January were the worst, Chairman Michael Hayes said in a statement.
Shares of the Memphis, Tennessee-based company, which shut 97 shops this year, had closed at $9.91 Wednesday on Nasdaq. (Reporting by Nivedita Bhattacharjee in Bangalore; Editing by Amitha Rajan)
