New York & Company, Inc. – NWY – Expects to Exceed Second Quarter Fiscal 2012 Guidance

New York & Company, Inc. [NYSE:NWY], a specialty apparel chain with 537 retail stores in operation, today announced that based on quarter-to-date performance and expectations for the balance of the quarter it expects to exceed second quarter fiscal 2012 guidance.

• Comparable Store Sales Expected to be Up Slightly
• Gross Margin Expected to Expand between 400 and 500 Basis Points
• Operating Loss Projected to Narrow Significantly from LY

NWY currently expects results for the second quarter ending July 28, 2012 to reflect the following:

• Comparable store sales to be up slightly with quarter-end store count reflecting six fewer stores in operation compared to the second quarter of fiscal year 2011.
• Gross margin to increase between 400 and 500 basis points from the prior year’s second quarter rate primarily driven by improved product costs combined with reductions in buying and occupancy expenses.
• Selling, general and administrative expenses as a percentage of net sales to increase approximately 100 basis points versus the prior year’s second quarter reflecting investments in marketing, increases in variable based compensation, and incremental spending necessary to support the Company’s growing eCommerce and Outlet businesses.
• NWY Operating loss to be in the range of $5 million to $7 million versus an operating loss of $15.1 million in the year-ago period.
• Total quarter-end inventories are expected to be down slightly versus the prior year. Inventory per average store is expected to be approximately flat to last year.

Gregory Scott, New York & Company’s CEO, stated: “We are encouraged by our second quarter performance to date which reflects strong product acceptance across our summer assortments, particularly during the Mother’s Day period, and continued progress on our strategic initiatives. As a result, we expect to significantly narrow our second quarter operating loss from last year.”

The Company continues to cite its six keys to success as its drivers toward improved fiscal 2012 results. These include: maximizing sales and profitability particularly during peak traffic times of the year; increasing its marketing efforts to grow traffic in stores and on-line; maintaining dominance in wear-to-work, while redefining its casual assortment; improving average unit cost; optimizing its real estate portfolio; and expanding its growing eCommerce and Outlet businesses.

Further commentary on second quarter results and the Company’s outlook for the third quarter will be provided as part of the Company’s regularly scheduled second quarter earnings release and conference call during the third week of August 2012.

About New York & Company, Inc. – NWY

New York & Company, Inc. (NWY ) is a leading specialty retailer of women’s fashion apparel and accessories, and the modern wear-to-work destination for women, providing perfectly fitting pants and NY Style that is feminine, polished, on-trend and versatile—all at an amazing value.

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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.