Ann Inc’s Q4 Earnings Beat Estimate, Share Rally (ANN)

Shares of women’s apparel retailer Ann Inc. (NYSE: ANN) rallied about 8% on Friday after the company handed better than expected earnings for the fiscal fourth quarter and revenue which matched with its own previously provided downbeat forecast. The Company also gave upbeat guidance on the fiscal first quarter. The only dark spot on results was slight dip in same-store sales.

For the fiscal first quarter, the New York-based Company expects sales of $600 million and for the fiscal 2013 it expects sales of $2.57 billion, topping analysts’ estimates for sales of $593 million and $2.51 billion, respectively.

Ann, which owns Ann Taylor and Loft brands, slashed its outlook on fiscal 2012 results, last month, citing impact on sales due to hurricane Sandy and unexpectedly weak sales at its Loft range of products. At that moment, the Company said that its investment in bright colors failed to generate the desired response from customers, forcing it to resort to promotions in order to clear the stock.

For the fiscal fourth quarter ended February 2, the Company posted a profit of $2.4 million, or 5 cents a share, up from $2.2 million, or 4 cents a share, in the same quarter of last year.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters, on average, had forecasted earnings of a penny a share.

Sales during the recently ended quarter jumped 7.2% to $607.7 million, which matched with company’s own downwardly revised February guidance of $608 million.

Gross margins stood at 49.1% up from 48.9%, and slightly above company’s own estimate of 49%.

Same-store sales, a key gauge on retailer’s performance as it excludes sales impact from those stores that were closed down or opened at least 12 month, slipped 0.7%. While same-store-sales at Ann Taylor brands rose 1.4%, it fell 2.1% for Loft brand.

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Post Written By: Ed Liston Ed Liston is a senior contributing editor at TheStockMarketWatch.com. An active market watcher and investor, Ed guides an independent team of experienced analysts and writes for multiple stock trader publications. He is widely quoted in various financial publications on the Internet. When Ed is not writing about stocks, investing in stocks, talking about stocks, or otherwise doing something stock related, he likes to go sailing and fishing in his yacht.