Target cuts Q4 expectations

TORONTO —  Target’s Canadian stores now expect to post a Q4 loss of about 45 cents per share, almost doubling its previous guidance of a 22 to 32 cent loss. The revision comes on the heels of a difficult holiday season, which saw much of eastern Canada blanketed by a severe ice storm. Deep discounts offered to move merchandise into the hands of reluctant Canadian shoppers also took a bite out of profits, and the Target brand was damaged by a credit card data breach, even though Canadian stores operate on their own point-of-sale system and were unaffected. “Profitability for the chain [in Canada] is years away,” Rob Wilson, president of Tiburon Research Group in San Francisco, tells Report on Business in The Globe and Mail.