RICHMOND (AP) — A major shareholder of Circuit City Stores Inc. has sold nearly its entire stake in the nation”s No. 2 electronics retailer, which reported earlier in the week that sales in December had fallen.
The TCW Group Inc., which was the company”s largest institutional investor, slashed its holdings to 310,045 shares, which represents a 0.2 percent stake in the company, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing Thursday. That”s down from a 10.9 percent stake, or 18.3 million shares, that TCW reported owning in August.
TCW declined to comment further on its sales of shares in the Richmond company.
Circuit City spokesman Jim Babb said the company does not comment on day-to-day stock movements or its investors.
On Monday, Circuit City said same-store sales fell 11.4 percent in December as strength in the final two weeks of the month failed to offset declining sales of tube televisions, camcorders and other products earlier in December.
Based on its sales results, the company continued to back its forecast of a “modest loss” before taxes for the fourth quarter, despite America”s traditional holiday hunger for televisions and other high-tech gadgets.
Rival Best Buy Co. Inc. said yesterday that its comparable-store sales rose 1.5 percent in December on strong sales of video games and notebook computers. Circuit City shares rose 29 cents, or 8 percent, to close at $4.18 yesterday.
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