HARDWARE & Lumber (H&L) recorded net losses of $67 million over the fourth-quarter ended December 31, 2009, making it the sixth consecutive quarter the company ended up in the red as the retail chain continues to be negatively impacted by the downturn in the local economy.

“The results for the fourth quarter continue to reflect the effects of the general economic slowdown and the decline in local construction activity,” said the company report.

Revenues over the fourth quarter were $1.5 billion, a marginal decline compared to the December 2008 quarter.

The bottom line over the fourth quarter, however, represented an improvement over the $265-million net loss over the corresponding period the year prior.

H&L CEO Simon Roberts did not immediately respond to phone messages from the Business Observer but operating expenses over the period under review declined by 26 per cent from the December 2008 quarter to $339 million — the upshot being that H & L posted an operating profit of $2.7 million over the period under review compared to an operating loss of $318 million over the corresponding period the year prior.

Revenues in the retail segment, which includes the Rapid True Value chain of retail centres, declined by 11 per cent in the period under review compared to the comparative period in 2008, but the wholesale hardware segment — H&L Wholesale — recorded an 11 per cent increase in revenues in the quarter as compared to 2008. H&L, in its report, attributed the latter to “better product availability, improved pricing and the addition of new products”.

However, one of the bright sparks at H&L in a difficult year, the Agricultural segment — the only H&L segment which posted an operating profit over the 2009 financial year — posted a two per cent decline in revenues over the fourth quarter compared to December 2008.

For the financial year ended December 31, 2009, H&L posted a net loss of $250 million compared to $260 million in 2008. Revenues were $6 billion over the 2009 financial year, a 12 per cent decline compared to the year prior.

For the financial year, H&L’s Retail segment posted operating losses of $122.7 million, the Wholesale segment posted operating losses of $57.7million while the Agriculture segment had an operating profit of $152 million.

H&L said, in the company report, it will continue to focus on reducing costs and debt, while improving product availability in all segments. The company acknowledged, however, that 2010 will be a very challenging year.

“The recent Government of Jamaica initiatives are expected to lead to a compression in purchasing power in the short term; however, we are hopeful that economic activity will increase in the medium to long term,” said the report, adding that the ongoing drought is expected to continue to present challenges for the Agriculture segment in 2010.