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The Shane Co., which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in January, sustained a net loss of $29.3 million in fiscal 2008 after reporting net income of $3.9 million the previous year, according to a filing made Friday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Denver.

The latest filing provided the first detailed look at the finances of the privately held company since the Centennial-based jewelry retailer filed for reorganization Jan. 12.

Shane Co. operates about 23 stores in 14 states.

The company said its net sales for the fiscal year ended Feb. 2, 2008, were $278.6 million, up from $267.9 million the previous year, and its gross profit for fiscal 2008 was $119.7 million, up from $115 million in fiscal 2007, according to the filing.

But it said its selling, general and administrative expenses went up $29.3 million, to $136.5 million, in fiscal 2008.

Shane Co. reported an operating loss of $22.5 million in 2008 versus operating income of $6.8 million the previous year. It said its interest expenses more than doubled, to $7.1 million.

The filing said Shane Co. went from stockholders’ equity of $46.7 million as of February 2007 to $15.9 million in February 2008. It said retained earnings fell from $40 million in 2007 to $6 million in 2008.

The company reported assets of $165.8 million as of Feb. 2, 2008, with $107.4 million of it in inventory.

Shane Co. filed for Chapter 11 protection Jan. 12.

Tom Shane — the company’s president, CEO and chairman, in addition to its commercial pitchman — owns about a 70 percent stake in Shane Co ace cash advance.; the rest is owned by trusts formed for the benefit of his children, filings with the court show.

The latest filing says the company owed its “principal stockholder” $20 million as of February 2008 under promissory notes. It said interest on the notes was $1.3 million each year.

The company paid its namesake CEO $1.2 million in 2007 and again in 2008 “as part of the company’s strategy in developing and maintaining brand value and increasing its market shares with corresponding sales increases” for those years, the filing with the court says.

Earlier filings said the company also owed $4.7 million to Dison Gems of New York.

Denver attorney Caroline Fuller, of Fairfield and Woods PC, who represents Shane Co., has said the current economy and the state of the luxury goods retail market put the diamond merchant in a cash crunch. She said the company hoped to emerge from Chapter 11 by year’s end.

“The severity of this past holiday season dramatically impacted existing liquidity requiring the company to seek this bankruptcy protection,” Tom Shane said in a written statement last month. “I am confident that this action will guarantee that our customers will continue to enjoy the top-notch service, expansive selection, and unbeatable prices that they have enjoyed since the days of my grandfather.”

Founded in 1971, Shane Co. operates in Colorado as well as Arizona, California, Georgia, Florida and other states.

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