Federated Posts Huge Loss Wednesday November 8, 9:58 AM EST CINCINNATI (Reuters) - Federated Department Stores Inc. (FD), parent company of Macy's and Bloomingdales, on Wednesday reported a huge loss for the third-quarter, hurt by after sluggish sales and problems at its Fingerhut catalog business.

Excluding these charges, however, Cincinnati-based Federated reported earnings that beat consensus estimates for the quarter, posting a per share profit of 26 cents, well above the 20 cents a share Wall Street analysts had been expecting.

The net loss for the quarter was $668 million, or $3.32 a share, including $795 million in charges associated with the company's previously announced restructuring of its Fingerhut direct-to-consumer business. That compared with net income of $123 million, or 59 cents a share, in the year-ago quarter.

Sales for the quarter rose 1.4 percent to $4.20 billion from $4.14 billion a year-ago. Same-store sales, or sales at stores open at least one year, rose 1.9 percent for the quarter. Shares of Federated, which reported its earnings prior to the market open, closed at $34-7/16 on Tuesday. B)2000 Reuters Limited.

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-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), November 08, 2000