Clothing Retailers Report Stronger Earnings
Several clothing retailers posted stronger first quarter earnings Thursday as sales and margins improved.</br></br>Children's Place Retail Stores Inc.'s fiscal first-quarter earnings rose 19%, handily beating its own forecasts. Its full-year earnings guidance was raised to $3.05 to $3.15 a share from $2.90 to $3.10 as it forecasts a second-quarter loss of 33 cents to 38 cents on a low-single-digit increase in same-store sales. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expected a 35-cent loss.</br></br>"We will continue to keep a tight rein on expenses as consumer spending remains constrained by lingering weakness in the economic environment," said Chairman and Chief Executive Jane Elfers, who took the helm in January.</br></br>Children's Place has reported better results recently, excluding one-time items. Like many retailers, it had been hurt by the consumer-spending downturn during the recession, though items like children's clothing weren't hit as hard as others. The company has developed a five-pronged plan for growth that includes accelerating store growth and sharpening marketing to push online sales.</br></br>For the quarter ended May 1, Children's Place reported a profit of $27.9 million, or $1 a share, up from $23.5 million, or 79 cents a share, a year earlier. The company in March forecast 85 cents to 90 cents.