Abercrombie & Fitch Q4 Adj. Profit Tops Estimates; Stock Up

(RTTNews) - Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (ANF) reported a fourth-quarter net income that increased 30% from last year. Comparable sales for the fourth quarter increased 1%. Adjusted earnings per share topped analysts' expectations.

In the pre-market, ANF is currently trading at $32.00, up $2.66 or 9.07%.

For fiscal 2016, the company expects flat to slightly positive comparable sales.

Net income attributable to the company for the fourth-quarter rose to $57.74 million or $0.85 per share from the prior year's $44.39 million or $0.63 per share in the previous year.

Excluding certain items, adjusted non-GAAP net income per share declined to $1.08 from $1.15 for the fourth quarter last year. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report earnings of $0.99 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items. Adjusted non-GAAP net income per share for the fourth quarter was adversely impacted by approximately $0.23 related to changes in foreign currency exchange rates compared to the prior year.

Net sales for the fourth quarter of $1.113 billion were up 2% on a constant currency basis and down 1% on a reported basis over last year. Wall Street expected revenues of $1.10 billion.

The company targets capital expenditures in the range of $150 million to $175 million for the fiscal year, including approximately $70 million for new stores and store updates and approximately $70 million for direct-to-consumer/omnichannel and IT investments to support growth and continuous profit improvement initiatives.

The company plans to open approximately 15 full-price stores in fiscal 2016, including approximately 10 in international markets, primarily China, and approximately five in the U.S. The company also plans to open approximately 10 new outlet stores, primarily in the U.S. In addition, the company anticipates closing approximately 60 stores in the U.S. during the fiscal year through natural lease expirations.