HD Supply Reports Huge Losses

Dec. 18, 2009
HD Supply, Atlanta, reported a 27-percent drop in sales and a $257-million loss during its fiscal third quarter

HD Supply, Atlanta, reported a 27-percent drop in sales and a $257-million loss during its fiscal third quarter.

According to information HD Supply released to the Securities Exchange Commission on Dec. 15, it plans to consolidate 25 branch locations and cut 350 employees. The company’s 10-Q report also said its Electrical business suffered a net sales decline in the third quarter of $56 million compared to the third quarter of 2008, and a decline of $105 million through the first nine months of 2009. It attributed the sales decline in its Electrical business to the continued economic weakness in the residential housing, municipal and commercial construction markets and the fluctuation of commodity prices, primarily copper and steel.

According to a Dec. 17 report in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, since the fourth quarter of 2008 HD Supply has laid off 4,500 employees nationwide and closed or consolidated 210 branches. The article also said HD Supply now has 16,000 employees in 800 locations and had an operating loss of $637 million in 2008.