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Supervalu Inc., the third-largest U.S. supermarket chain, on Wednesday reported quarterly sales that missed Wall Street projections, and the company lowered its full-year identical stores sales christian louboutin shoes sale forecast, sending shares down nearly 7 percent in premarket trading.

The company, which owns the Jewel-Osco, Albertsons and Save-A-Lot chains, expects a deeper sales decline for the year than it forecast in October.

Supervalu now expects identical-store sales, excluding fuel, to fall between 2.5 percent and 3 percent for fiscal 2012, which ends in March, rather than a fall of 2 to 2.5 percent.

A key performance measure, Supervalu’s identical-store sales show results from supermarkets operating for four full quarters, including store expansions and excluding fuel sales.

The Minneapolis-based company, which has been losing market share, said identical-store sales fell 2.9 percent in the latest quarter, while net sales fell 4 percent to $8.33 billion, below analysts’ average forecast of $8.42 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Supervalu has vowed to get its everyday pricing as low as bigger players Kroger Co. and Safeway Inc. amid fierce competition and rising food costs. Major supermarket chains are struggling with falling sales volumes as all but the top-earning shoppers remain very cautious about spending.

Kroger, the biggest U.S. supermarket chain, in December reported a 5 percent increase in third-quarter sales at established stores, excluding fuel.

Supervalu in October said it would Christian Louboutin Slingback build fewer Save-A-Lot discount stores than planned because licensees were having difficulty obtaining loans in a weak economy that also prompted the company to temper its full-year earnings and sales forecasts.

Supervalu stuck with that October forecast and expects to earn between $1.20 per share and $1.30 per share, excluding items, for the full fiscal year. That compares to Wall Street projections of $1.25 per share.

Supervalu reported a net loss of $750 million, or $3.54 cents per share, for the quarter that ended on Dec. 3. That compared with a year-earlier loss of $202 million, or $0.95 per share.

Excluding one-time items, such as the costs to close stores, Supervalu earned 24 cents per share, in line with analyst forecasts.

Shares in Supervalu were down 57 cents to $7.82 in premarket trading.

The departure prompted at least one brokerage to lower its rating. Citigroup downgraded the company’s stock to “sell” from “buy” and also removed it from its top picks live list.

The company, which operates the Urban Outfitters, Anthropologie, Free People and Terrain store chains, has seen its gross margins decline, as it tries to clear piled-up inventory by offering profit-draining discounts.

“Say what you will about Glen Senk’s tenure as CEO of Urban, his abrupt departure puts a major dent in our near-term confidence that a turn is indeed at hand,” Citi analyst Jeff Black wrote in a client note, cutting his price target on the stock to $20 from $34.

Urban Outfitters said Senk, who has been with the company since 1994, resigned to pursue other opportunities.

On new CEO Richard Hayne, the company’s chairman and co-founder, Black wrote, “He’s been a guiding presence at the company these last years but we don’t view him as having had a strong hand in day-to-day management.”

“Senk and CFO Eric Artz had Christian Louboutin Prive 120 Slingbacks begun to move (Urban) in the right direction on inventory, but … organizational issues could remain a serious distraction over the next year.”

Barclays Capital analyst Stacy Pak too lowered her price target on the company’s stock to $25 from $32, citing a slower-than-planned product turnaround.

Shares of Philadelphia-based Urban were down at $24.60 Wednesday in premarket trade. They had closed at $29.41 Tuesday on the Nasdaq.

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