Shares of the women's apparel retailer plunged 15.2 percent in premarket trading as it also said it had drawn down $125 million of its $250 million revolving credit facility on Thursday.

AnnTaylor, which has been restructuring for more than a year, called the most recent quarter its "earnings trough." While the company did not give a specific earnings outlook, it expects sales to be under significant pressure this year, with some improvement in the second half.

The Ann Taylor chain was particularly hard hit, since the professional working women who buy its suits and other corporate attire felt the impact of the financial crisis and rising unemployment, Chief Executive Kay Krill said in a statement.

Krill said the company had drawn down half of the $250 million facility "as a cushion" in case it needs more working capital for the spring season.

LOSS WIDER THAN EXPECTED

For the fourth quarter ended January 31, AnnTaylor posted a loss of $58.1 million, or $1.03 per share, excluding impairments and restructuring charges, compared with a year-earlier profit of $11.5 million, or 19 cents per share. Analysts on average had expected a loss of 55 cents per share, according to Reuters Estimates.

Including items, the loss widened to $376 million, or $6.66 per share, from $6.7 million, or 11 cents per share.

Sales fell to $483.4 million from $600.8 million, while sales at stores open at least a year plunged 24.5 percent.

Same-store sales fell 29.4 percent at the Ann Taylor chain and 21.9 percent at the lower-priced LOFT chain.

AnnTaylor said it now plans to close a total of 163 stores, up from an earlier forecast of 117.

Shares of AnnTaylor fell to $4.70 in trading before the market opened after closing at $5.54 on Thursday.

(Reporting by Jessica Wohl, editing by Dave Zimmerman and Lisa Von Ahn)