Abercrombie earnings up 15 percent

Abercrombie & Fitch said Wednesday that its profits rose 15 percent in the third quarter, despite comparable-store sales that were nearly flat.

Abercrombie said it made $118 million, or $1.29 per share, for the quarter ended Nov. 3 compared with profits of $102 million, or $1.11 per share, a year ago. Sales for the quarter rose 13 percent to $974 million from $863 million a year ago.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial expected earnings of $1.28 per share on revenue of $985 million.

"Our company is performing very well across all of of our concepts, importantly, Abercrombie & Fitch has generated strong results for many years," Mike Kramer, chief financial officer, said during a conference call.

Sales at stores open at least a year, considered a key indicator of a retailer's strength, were up 1 percent in the quarter.

Same-store sales increased 3 percent at both the company's Abercrombie & Fitch chain and its abercrombie children's clothing stores. Abercrombie's Hollister business saw a 1 percent decline in comparable-store sales, and they were down 7 percent at the company's RUEHL stores.

Higher sales were powered by more Hollister stores. In the past year, Abercrombie has added 59 Hollister locations, bringing the number of surfer-inspired stores to 431 as of the end of October. The number of Abercrombie & Fitch stores has remained flat at 358 over the past year.

Kramer said that while the retailer continues to expand in the United States, it has focused especially on adding Abercrombie and Hollister stores internationally.

"Our international stores continued to generate exceptional sales and profits and their high performance in the recent quarters only increases our expectations for them in the future," he said.

The company has looked in particular to Canada, Asia and Europe, Kramer said.

For the fiscal year to date, Abercrombie has made $259 million, or $2.82 per share, compared with $224 million, or $2.44 a share, last year. Sales rose 16 percent to $2.5 billion from $2.2 billion.

Same-store sales are down 1 percent for the year.

Abercrombie maintained its profit forecast of $3.63 to $3.67 per share for the second half of its fiscal year. Analysts have forecast profits of $2.38 per share for the fourth quarter, bringing their total estimate to $3.56 for the last half of the year.

Shares rose 83 cents to $73.62 in midday trading. The stock has traded between $65.75 and $85.77 in the past year.

The company, based in this Columbus suburb, operated 358 Abercrombie & Fitch stores, 198 abercrombie stores, 431 Hollister locations and 20 RUEHL stores as of the end of the quarter.

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Abercrombie & Fitch: http://www.abercrombie.com