FRED Freds Inc

By Michael Dabaie

Fred's Inc. (FRED) shares fell 23% to $1.94 in heavier-than-average volume Thursday.

The retailer said earlier that third-quarter net sales declined 5.5% to $306.4 million, from $324.3 million a year earlier. Comparable store sales fell 5.3% compared to a 1% decline in the year-ago period.

Net loss from continuing operations was 83 cents a share, from a loss of $1.35 a year earlier.

"We are continuing to evaluate potential opportunities to monetize all our non-core assets including our retail pharmacy script portfolio as well as our real estate," said Joe Anto, interim chief executive and chief financial officer.

Fred's completed the sale of script files associated with 138 locations to Walgreens on Wednesday, it said. The retailer said it expects to complete the remaining 41 location transfers by the end of January.

Write to Michael Dabaie at michael.dabaie@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

December 13, 2018 11:31 ET (16:31 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2018 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.