Little Rock-based Dillard’s, Inc. went backwards in the second quarter as the upscale retailer saw a decline in same-store and total merchandise sales as increasing markdowns and lukewarm purchases of ladies’ apparel and accessories cut into profits.

For the 13-week period ended Aug. 3, the Arkansas department store operator reported a net loss of $40.7 million, or $1.59 per share, compared to a net loss of $2.9 million, or 10 cents per share, in the same period of 2018. Those poor results included a pretax gain of $4.9 million primarily related to the sale of a store property.

Companywide, Dillard’s net sales for the 13-week period declined 2.7% to nearly $1.43 billion, compared to about $1.47 billion in the same period a year ago. That weak quarterly financial performance fell well short of Wall Street’s forecast of a net loss of seven cents per share on quarterly sales of $1.49 billion, according to Thomas Reuters.       MORE