OKLAHOMA CITY -- Homeland Stores here said it has appealed Nasdaq's determination to delist its stock.
s and has requested a hearing before the Nasdaq Listings Qualification panel to review the determination.
There is no assurance that Homeland will continue to be listed on the Nasdaq board, the company said.
Homeland also released its results for the 16-week fourth quarter and year ended Dec. 30.
For the year, sales rose 7.4% to $600.1 million, but the company experienced a net loss of $5.9 million, compared with a net loss of $4.3 million in the previous year.
Sales for the quarter were up 1.3% to $185.1 million, but the company experienced a net loss of $4.5 million, compared to earnings of $1.5 million in fourth quarter 1999.
David B. Clark, Homeland president and chief executive officer, said the company's earnings suffered from the dispute last year between its wholesaler, Associated Wholesale Grocers, Kansas City, Kan., and the Teamsters union. According to Clark, the union's picketing of Homeland stores, along with reduced patronage rebates from AWG, cost Homeland $1.6 million over the course of the year.
Clark also said the company took a one-time charge of $4.2 million related to its closing of seven stores in the fourth quarter. The charge reflected write-downs of inventory value, write-off of assets and closing costs, he said.
'While we anticipate a better environment in 2001 because of fewer anticipated competitive openings, we expect our markets to remain highly competitive."
He said the company plans to improve its competitive position through intensified promotional and marketing initiatives, increased in-store efficiencies and an ongoing examination of store-by-store performance.
As for the company's fourth-quarter performance, Clark commented: "As expected, Homeland faced a difficult operating environment during the fourth quarter. In addition to comparing our results for the last quarter to an unusually strong fourth quarter in 1999 because of Y2K-related sales, we continued to experience a high level of competitive activity during the quarter."
