Broadway’s Parent Cuts It Losses

Carter Hawley Hale, operator of the Broadway and other department stores in the West, said Wednesday that its first-quarter losses declined to $20.4 million and sales increased a modest 1% to $433.6 million compared to last year.

In the same period in 1991, the company lost $62.4 million on sales of $430.1 million. Last year’s quarterly loss included a one-time after-tax charge of $30 million resulting from an accounting rule change covering medical insurance and other benefits for the company’s retirees.

This year’s quarterly losses include a $2-million pretax charge for uninsured property damages and lost sales resulting from the Los Angeles riots.

The Broadway store in the Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza was looted and vandalized April 29, the first night of rioting, and was closed for a week during cleanup. Virtually every Broadway store in the Los Angeles Basin, including those in the suburbs, was closed during all or part of the following four days.

This year’s first-quarter sales are compared to the period last year in which Carter Hawley Hale filed for bankruptcy reorganization and suffered significant disruption in its operations.

Given that comparison, some analysts had believed that the company might have fared better this year. However, the company said its performance underscores the continuing softness of the California economy.