Macy’s (NYSE:M) on Monday posted preliminary third-quarter results and said it would delay its full earnings release as it completes an investigation of an accounting issue.
The company was slated to report its quarterly earnings before the opening bell on Tuesday.
In a statement Monday, Macy’s said its third-quarter sales fell 2.4% to $4.74 billion. Comparable sales for its owned and licensed stores plus its online marketplace dropped 1.3%.
Macy’s did not post earnings figures for the third quarter. The retailer said it expects to release its full results, along with fourth-quarter and full-year guidance, by Dec. 11.
Macy’s said it found “an issue related to delivery expenses in one of its accrual accounts” while preparing its quarterly results. After an independent investigation, the company found that one employee who handled “small package delivery expense accounting” made erroneous entries to hide about $132 million to $154 million in delivery expenses from the fourth quarter of 2021 through this year’s fiscal third quarter. The company said it had about $4.36 billion in delivery expenses during that time.
The retailer added the actions did not affect its cash management and vendor payments, and said the employee no longer works at the company.
On the eve of Thanksgiving, M shares flopped 60 cents, or 3.7%, to $15.70.
