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Workers install an outdoor sign at the new Target store at the Mic Mac Mall in Dartmouth, N.S. on Saturday, July 20, 2013.Andrew Vaughan/The Canadian Press

Target Corp. says poor sales at its Canadian stores will have a bigger impact on its fourth-quarter results than it originally expected.

The discount retailer says it has slashed prices to clear out unsold merchandise and that's hurting gross margins.

It now anticipates a loss of about 45 cents (U.S.) per share for the quarter, more than the 22 cents to 32 cents loss it had previously projected.

Target operates 124 locations across Canada following a hyped launch last year.

But the chic chain has since admitted that its highly anticipated foray north of the border was rocky, as it faced high expansion costs and worse-than-expected sales.

Some common complaints have ranged from near-empty shelves in Target Canada stores to prices that were notably higher than its U.S. locations.

For its entire operation, the retail giant lowered its fourth-quarter adjusted earnings guidance to a range of $1.20 to $1.30 per share, down from $1.50 to $1.60 per share.

Analysts surveyed by FactSet expect earnings of $1.24 per share.

The Minneapolis company also revealed that a data breach at its stores pre-Christmas may have affected the personal and credit information of 70 million customers, not the 40 million it had originally estimated.

Target says that names, credit and debit card numbers, card expiration dates, debit-card PINs and the embedded code on the magnetic strip on the back of cards had been stolen during the breach.

The company is set to report its fourth-quarter and full-year earnings on Feb. 26.

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