Apparel Retailers Mostly Report Higher February Sales

(RTTNews) - A sampling of U.S. apparel retailers on Thursday mostly reported higher sales results at established stores for the month of February.

Retailers' sales during the month were positively impacted by the cooler weather that extended into February and helped them to clear winter merchandise and also by the introduction of fresh new spring merchandise ahead of the early Easter.

However, the month of February is normally among the slowest months for retailers following the most important holiday season sales rush. The month marks the transition period from winter apparel to spring merchandise.

In late February, the Conference Board has revealed that consumer confidence in the U.S. dropped much more than expected in the month. The Conference Board said its consumer confidence index tumbled to 92.2 in February, from a downwardly revised 97.8 in January.

Sales at established stores or comparable-store sales is a key retail industry performance metric to gauge activity at store locations that have been open for at least a year.

L Brands, Inc. (LB), the operator of Victoria's Secret and Bath & Body Works chains, said its February comparable store sales increased 5 percent, reflecting strength in both its brand stores. The company recorded comparable store sales increase of 4 percent in the same period last year.

Net sales for the month were $849.3 million, also up 5 percent from $806.1 million last year.

Value-priced fashion apparel retailer Cato Corp. (CATO) reported that February same-store sales rose 4 percent, while total sales rose 5 percent from last year to $84.7 million from $80.5 million in the prior-year period.

The company noted that February sales were significantly higher due to favorable sales comparisons because of the impact of weather to last year's results.

Meanwhile, teen apparel retailer Buckle, Inc. (BKE) said that its comparable store net sales for February declined 8.9 percent from the year-ago period. Net sales for the month decreased 7.7 percent to $81.8 million from last year's $88.6 million.