Penn Traffic Provides Financial Update

SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- Bob Panasuk, the newly named president and chief executive officer of Penn Traffic here, said initiatives launched late last year were progressing as planned and declared “this year is about rebuilding the fundamentals of this company.” Panasuk‘s remarks came yesterday during a conference call during which Penn Traffic executives reviewed unaudited financial results for the 48-week and nine-week periods ending Dec. 30. The retailer, who remains under investigation from the SEC regarding past accounting practices, has not provided audited financial statements since before going to into Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2002. Panasuk said he hoped to be able to release audited financials before the company reviews its first-quarter results in May. For the 48-week period ending Dec. 30, Penn Traffic reported a loss of $4.1 million on $1.2 billion in sales. Its loss when adjusted for one-time items was $1 million. Same-store sales for the period decreased by 1.9%.