Nov 30, 2005 9:25 AM, from staff and wire reports

Pathmark Stores Inc has reported unaudited results for its third quarter and nine-month period ended Oct 29, 2005.

Sales for the third quarter of fiscal 2005 were $980.5 million, an increase of 0.1% from $979.9 million in the prior year's third quarter. The supermarket chain reported a net loss of $18.3 million in the third quarter of fiscal 2005, compared with a net loss of $3.6 million in the third quarter a year ago.

John Standley, chief executive officer, said, "While we are confident that our increased focus on perishables will be beneficial, significantly higher inventory shrink in the perishable departments impacted our quarter's results. We believe this shrink result is transitory and have taken steps to normalize it by the end of the current quarter."