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Macy's reports 59 percent drop in 4Q profit

Macy's is reporting an almost 59 percent drop in fourth-quarter earnings.

The department store chain says its results were dragged down by weak sales and one-time costs associated with the consolidations of regional divisions and store closings.

The Cincinnati-based company said Tuesday that in the three months ended Jan. 31, it earned $310 million, or 73 cents per share. That compares with $750 million, or $1.73 per share, a year earlier.

Sales fell 7.7 percent to $7.93 billion from $8.59 billion a year ago.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters, who generally exclude one-time items, expected the company to earn $1.01 per share on revenue of $7.92 billion.