Fashion

Ascena Retail Group's Q2 net loss widens


Ascena Retail Group's Q2 net loss widens

Ascena Retail Group, Inc. for its second quarter reported a net loss
of 72 million dollars or 36 cents per diluted share compared to 39 million
dollars or 20 cents per diluted share, in the year-ago period, as the
company said, an increase in comparable sales was more than offset by the
impact of a lower gross margin rate and a lower benefit related to income
taxes. Adjusted loss for the quarter was 26 cents per diluted share
compared to 12 cents per diluted share in the year-ago period.

Commenting on the second quarter trading, David Jaffe, Chairman and
Chief Executive Officer of Ascena Retail Group, said in a statement: “While
we were pleased with continued traction at the enterprise level,
performance was again mixed across our portfolio. While we believe the
challenging selling environment is the result of macro headwinds impacting
our sector, our third quarter outlook represents an unacceptable profit
shortfall to the expectations we shared at the beginning of our fiscal
year.”

Comparable sales up 2 percent at Ascena Retail Group

Net sales for the second quarter, the company said, were 1,693
million dollars compared to 1,719 million dollars in the year-ago period,
with a 2 percent increase in comparable sales. The decrease in
non-comparable sales was caused by the unfavourable impact of the 53rd week
in the prior fiscal year, and fewer stores as a result of the company’s
ongoing fleet optimization program.

Gross margin decreased to 883 million dollars or 52.2 percent of sales
compared to 929 million dollars or 54 percent of sales in the year-ago
period. Operating loss was 52 million dollars compared to 36
million dollars in the year-ago period.

The company added that February performance was challenging, and that it
is currently operating with reduced forward visibility on sales trends due
to what it believes are temporary, macro-related factors. For its third
quarter, the company currently expects a non-GAAP loss per share of 45
cents to 35 cents, net sales of 1.43 to 1.46 billion dollars; comparable
sales of down 4 percent to down 2 percent and gross margin rate of 57
percent to 58 percent.

Picture:Facebook/Ann Taylor



READ SOURCE

Leave a Reply

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this site, you accept our use of cookies.