SAO PAULO, Feb 26 Reuters Brazilian retailer Americanas on Monday released its results for the first nine months of 2023 after multiple delays, dubbing the year the most challenging of its history in light of a major accounting scandal.

Americanas, a nearly centuryold company backed by the trio of billionaires who founded 3G Capital, filed for bankruptcy last year after uncovering 4 billion in accounting inconsistencies.

The retailer posted a net loss of 4.61 billion reais 923.14 million for the first three quarters of 2023, it said in a securities filing released overnight, after a revised loss of 6.03 billion reais a year earlier.

Americanas, one of Brazil39;s largest retailers with a major ecommerce unit, said the results were affected by a strong drop in sales, mainly in the digital platform, and high financial expenses amid its bankruptcy proceedings.

Its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization EBITDA came in at negative 1.56 billion reais, against negative 1.28 billion a year before, while its gross margin improved by 11.1 percentage points to 27.7.

Gross debt remained roughly stable at 38.37 billion reais.

The retailer is expected to release fourthquarter earnings in March, according to its investors relations website.

Americanas last November released revised earnings for 2021 and 2022 to reflect what it described as a fraud by former managers, although investigations are ongoing.

In December it obtained approval from creditors for a…