SAN FRANCISCO – Retailer Toys R Us Inc. (TOY), which has agreed to be bought by an investment group, Thursday posted a wider first quarter loss, hurt by sluggish sales of seasonal items and baby and toddler products such as cribs, strollers and car seats.
The retailer posted a net loss of $41 million, or 19 cents per share, for the quarter ended April 30, compared with a net loss of $28 million, or 13 cents per share, a year earlier.
Analysts, on average, had been expecting it to post a loss of 3 cents per share, according to Reuters Estimates.
First-quarter net sales rose 3.6 percent to $2.13 billion. Same-store sales in the U.S. Toy Store division fell 0.7 percent.
Babies R Us (search) same-store sales -- a key measure of retail strength -- rose 4.3 percent.
Same-store sales at international toy stores were up 4.2 percent in local-currency terms in the first quarter.
Net sales at Toysrus.com rose 20.8 percent to $64 million during the quarter.
In March, Toys R Us agreed to a takeover offer by private equity firms Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co (search) and Bain Capital (search) and real estate group Vornado Realty Trust (search) in a deal valued at $6.6 billion.
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