NEW YORK -- Hefty one-time charges led Supervalu Inc. to post a big loss for its fiscal third quarter on Wednesday, but the grocer beat Wall Street estimates when the special items were excluded from the results.

For the quarter ended Nov. 29, Supervalu posted a loss of $2.94 billion, or $13.95 per share, compared with a profit of $141 million, or 66 cents per share, in the year-ago period.

Supervalu, which is based in Minneapolis, earned 62 cents per share when the charges are excluded. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected a profit of 60 cents per share.

The $3.3 billion in charges stemmed from an accounting requirement that the company write down the value of some intangible assets.

Sales fell to $10.17 billion from $10.21 billion. Analysts anticipated sales of $10.18 billion.

Identical-store sales, or sales at non-renovated stores open for at least a year, fell 0.5 percent excluding fuel. The company said new store growth helped make up for the dip, leading to mainly flat revenue in the company's retail food group.

Supply chain services sales, which makes up about 23 percent of the company's total sales, fell about 4 percent.

Looking ahead, the company charges will likely keep eating into net earnings for the remainder of the fiscal year.

Chief Executive Jeff Noddle said in a statement that the company will likely report charges between 43 cents and 58 cents per share in the fourth quarter related to closing some store locations and cutting costs.

The company also said it now expects to report a loss of $12.14 to $12.39 per share including all the charges and a profit of $2.80 to $2.90 per share excluding them for the fiscal year.

Previously, the company predicted it would earn $2.86 to $2.96 per share including one-time costs and between $2.90 and $3 per share excluding them.

Supervalu said it will likely report sales of about $45 billion for the year with identical-store sales dipping 1 percent.

Analysts expect income earnings of $2.79 per share for the year and sales of $44.98 billion. Analyst estimates typically exclude one-time charges.

Given the difficult consumer and credit environments, Noddle added Supervalu will cut back its capital spending to about $850 million in 2010 compared to an expected $1.2 billion in 2009. Supervalu also hopes to cut down its debt in 2010.