Fred's April Sales Down 1.6%; Sees Q1 EPS Between $0.18-$0.22

(RTTNews) - Fred's Inc. (FRED) reported that its total sales for the four-week month of April ended May 3, 2014 decreased 1.6% to $150.0 million from $152.4 million in April 2013. Comparable store sales for the month decreased 2.3%.

Fred's total sales for the first three months of fiscal 2014 decreased 0.6% to $498.5 million compared with $501.5 million for the same period last year. On a comparable store basis, year-to-date sales decreased 1.9%.

The company now expects first-quarter earnings per share to be in the range of $0.18 to $0.22. Fred's expects a return to positive comparable store sales in the range of 1% to 3%, beginning in June.