The company now sees adjusted earnings of 45 to 47 cents a share for the three-month period ended May 3, up from a prior projection for a profit of 35 to 40 cents a share.
The current mean estimate of analysts polled by Thomson Reuters is for a profit of 36 cents a share in the quarter.
The New York-based women's fashion apparel retailer said sales rose 2% to about $592 million in the quarter on a preliminary basis. Same-store sales for the period fell 4.3% with the company's namesake stores posting a decline of 11.5% while its LOFT division came in with a 0.7% increase.
AnnTaylor maintained its outlook for earnings of $1.80 to $1.90 a share for the full year, excluding restructuring costs.
"Despite the fact that our first quarter results are tracking ahead of our plan, and we are confident in our business strategy, we remain cautious about our outlook for the balance of the year, given the highly volatile and uncertain nature of the current economic environment," said Kay Krill, the company's president and chief executive officer.
The company also noted that its inventory per square foot was down about 15% at the end of the first quarter.
AnnTaylor also said it won't pursue the launch of its "new concept at the present time" but it's still planning an aggressive launch for its LOFT Outlet stores this summer. On Jan. 30, the company's expectations were to open 10 LOFT Outlet stores in fiscal 2008.
The stock closed Friday at $24.55 and it was trading up more than 9% in premarket, last changing hands at $26.80. Michael Baron mb
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