(Reuters) - Macy's on Monday delayed publication of its third-quarter results after discovering an accounting issue related to delivery expenses and instead reported preliminary results in which its sales missed Wall Street expectations.

Net sales fell 2.4% to $4.74 billion compared to analysts' average estimate of $4.77 billion, as steep promotions failed to attract customers who have turned selective on purchases.

The company said it has identified an issue related to delivery expenses in one of its accrual accounts during preparation of the quarterly results.

Macy's has initiated an independent investigation and identified that a single employee with responsibility for small package delivery expense accounting intentionally made erroneous accounting accrual entries.

This resulted in the employee hiding about $132 million to $154 million of cumulative delivery expenses from the fourth quarter of 2021 through third quarter ended Nov. 2.

Macy's expects to report its full third-quarter financial results and hold its earnings conference call, in which it will provide its fourth quarter and annual outlooks, by Dec. 11.

(Reporting by Ananya Mariam Rajesh in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun Koyyur)