Macy's Inc. reported an almost 59 percent drop in fourth quarter earnings Tuesday as its results were dragged down by weak sales and one-time costs associated with the consolidations of regional divisions and store closings.

The Cincinnati-based company, which announced this month that it will eliminate 7,000 jobs, said that in the three months ended Jan. 31, it earned $310 million, or 73 cents a share. That compares with $750 million, or $1.73 a share, a year earlier.

Sales fell 7.7 percent to $7.93 billion from $8.59 billion a year ago. Same-store sales, or sales at stores opened at least a year, fell 7 percent.

TARGET CORP. said Tuesday its fiscal fourth-quarter profit fell 41 percent, hurt by the consumer spending slowdown, and said it will expand food offerings and bolster its private-label brands.

* Profit: $609 million, or 81 cents a share, vs. $1.03 billion, or $1.23, a year earlier. Analysts expected 83 cents a share.

* Revenue: in the quarter fell 1.6 percent to $19.02 billion, down 1.6 percent from a year earlier. Analysts expected $19.56 billion.

Same-store sales fell 5.9 percent. Sales at new stores partially offset that.

HOME DEPOT Inc., which has suffered under the weight of the collapsing housing market, reported a fiscal fourth-quarter loss Tuesday mostly due to its plan to shut its four smaller home-improvement brands.

* Loss: $54 million, or 3 cents a share, compared with a profit of $671 million ,or 40 cents, a year earlier. Excluding a charge and other items, earnings were 19 cents per share.

* Revenue: $14.61 billion, down 17 percent from $17.66 billion last year. Same-store sales sank 13 percent for the quarter. Analysts, who generally exclude one-time factors, forecast a profit of 15 cents a share on revenue of $14.67 billion.

OFFICE DEPOT INC. said Tuesday it lost $1.54 billion in the fourth quarter as hefty charges for a restructuring that included facility closings and job cuts and sharply lower sales weighed on the office supply chain.

* Loss: $5.64 per share, vs. a profit of $18.8 million, or 7 cents a share, a year ago.

Adjusted to reflect charges, Office Depot lost $199 million, or 73 cents a share, in the latest quarter.

* Revenue: $3.27 billion, down 15 percent from $3.87 billion a year ago.

Same-store sales dropped 18 percent at locations in the U.S. and Canada.

Analyst, who generally exclude one-time items, forecast a loss of 6 cents a share on sales of $3.47 billion.