A&P losss widens in 1st quarter; CEO steps down, shares plunge

A&P CEO steps down as loss widens; shares plunge

MONTVALE, N.J. — Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co.’s shares plunged to their lowest point in at least 25 years Friday after the grocery chain reported that its loss widened in the first quarter and its CEO stepped down.

The financially troubled operator of A&P and other supermarkets said Friday that former Office Max executive Sam Martin would take over as its second CEO in less than a year. He replaces Ron Marshall, a former executive at Borders Group Inc. who took over as A&P’s CEO in January.

Martin has a grocery background, having worked previously as a chief operating officer for Wild Oats Markets Inc., which was acquired by Whole Foods Market Inc. in 2007.

A&P reported a first-quarter loss of $122.6 million, or $4.83 per share. That compares with a loss of $65.2 million, or $3.64 per share, in the same quarter last year.

Revenue fell to $2.54 billion from $2.79 billion for the quarter.

The results missed Wall Street’s expectations. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to post a loss of 70 cents per share on revenue of $2.6 billion.

Shares hit the company’s lowest point of the year during the day at $2.50 and lost $1.32, about a third of their value, to close at $2.61.

The company said it has a turnaround strategy under way to lower costs, increase revenue and is pursuing ways to raise capital including the sale of some assets.

A&P is one of the nation’s oldest supermarket chains and now operates 429 stores in the Northeast.