Saks Losses Rise as Sales Fall Short of Forecasts Saks reported a larger-than-expected second-quarter loss on Monday after disappointing sales of shoes and handbags forced it to reduce prices. Donna Alberico for The New York Times Saks Fifth Avenue's shoe department. Saks, the luxury retailer that agreed last month to be acquired by Hudson's Bay Company of Canada for $2.4 billion, reported that sales at stores open at least a year rose 1.5 percent, well below the 4.5 percent increase Wall Street analysts had predicted. Stephen I. Sadove, chief executive of Saks, acknowledged in a statement that "our sales growth was modestly below our expectations." Saks is the latest retailer across the price spectrum to report mediocre sales. Last week, Macy's, Nordstrom, Kohl's and Wal-Mart Stores all reported lower-than-expected sales. Overall sales at Saks rose just 0.5 percent to $707.8 million for the quarter. Gross profit margin fell because Saks had too much inventory of shoes and handbags and cut prices to clear unsold merchandise. For the quarter that ended Aug. 3, Saks reported a net loss of $19.6 million, or 13 cents a share, compared with a net loss of $12.3 million, or 8 cents a share, a year earlier. Excluding costs like expenses related to store closings and the Hudson's Bay deal, Saks lost 10 cents a share, 2 cents more than analysts had expected. Saks, which is based in New York, had been scheduled to report its earnings on Tuesday. The company did not hold its regular earnings conference call with analysts and investors because of its pending acquisition by Hudson's Bay, the owner of Lord & Taylor. Shares of Saks closed little changed at $15.97, down 5 cents or 0.31 percent, and just below the $16 a share in cash that Hudson's Bay is offering.