Abercrombie & Fitch Q3 Results Beat Estimates; Shares Rise

(RTTNews) - Apparel retailer Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (ANF) on Friday reported a 28 percent increase in profit for the third quarter from last year on higher sales. Both revenue and adjusted earnings per share for the quarter beat analysts' estimates. The company's shares are gaining more than 20 percent in pre-market activity.

Net income attributable to the company for the third quarter rose to $10.08 million or $0.15 per share from $7.88 million or $0.12 per share last year.

The latest quarter's results include legal charges of $11.1 million and store asset impairment charges of $3.5 million.

Excluding items, adjusted earnings for the quarter were $0.30 per share, compared to $0.02 per share last year. On average, analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report earnings of $0.22 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Net sales for the quarter grew 5 percent to $859.11 million from $821.7 million in the same period last year. Wall Street expected revenues of $818.9 million.

Comparable sales for the quarter rose 4 percent and changes in foreign currency exchange rates benefited sales by 1 percent.

By brand, third-quarter net sales decreased 2 percent to $351.0 million for Abercrombie and rose 10 percent to $508.1 million for Hollister over last year.

Looking ahead to the fourth quarter, Abercrombie & Fitch expects comparable sales to be up low-single digits, and net sales to be up mid- to high-single digits.

The company now expects capital expenditures for the full year to be approximately $110 million, up from the prior expectation of $100 million.

In addition to the five stores opened year to date, including two outlet stores, Abercrombie & Fitch expects to open four new full-price stores in the fourth quarter. The company anticipates closing up to 60 stores in the U.S. by year-end through natural lease expirations, including 14 stores closed to date.