Saks, the retailer that’s selling half of its stores, reported a fourth-quarter loss on expenses to write down assets and close locations. It will pay investors a $4-a-share special dividend on the sale of five chains to Bon-Ton Stores.

The net loss was $2.42 million, or 2 cents a share, compared with net income of $96.6 million, or 68 cents, a year earlier. Revenue in the period ended January 28 dropped 14% to $1.77 billion, Birmingham, Ala.-based Saks said in a statement yesterday.

Saks had $56.3 million in expenses for write downs and closings. Earnings at the Saks Fifth Avenue luxury unit plunged 87% on markdowns. Chief Executive Officer Stephen Sadove said the division’s performance was “unacceptable” and the retailer needs to win back its main customer,women over 40, after alienating them by trying to lure younger shoppers.

It was “another ugly quarter for Saks Fifth Avenue,” an analyst with UBS Securities in New York, Jeffrey Edelman, wrote in a report yesterday. The results “were below our expectations. Markdowns were the primary culprit,” he said.

Saks will pay the dividend on May 1 after closing the sale of chains including Herberger’s and Carson Pirie Scott. The company expects after-tax proceeds of $1 billion.

Saks’s earns were also cut by $7.6 million in expenses for severance and legal costs for a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission investigation of vendor payments.

Saks said total same-store sales gained 1.9%. Comparable sales at the Saks Fifth Avenue unit rose 1.4%, less than the company’s forecast of a gain of at least 4%.The division lagged behind Nordstrom’s 5.8% gain and Neiman Marcus Group’s 6.4% increase.