Apparel Retailers Report Mixed Sales In May

(RTTNews) - For the month of May, apparel retailers reported mixed sales numbers, with L Brands Inc. (LB) reporting flat comps and higher net sales, while Cato Corp. (CATO) and Buckle Inc. (BKE) came out with weak sales.

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.

Comparable sales for Victoria's Secret owner L Brands, for the four weeks ended May 28, were flat, compared to a 4 percent increase last year. There were one percent drop in comps for Victoria's Secret Stores and that was offset by 3 percent increase in Bath & Body Works.

However, May net sales increased 2 percent to $816.6 million from $799.1 million last year.

For the 17-week year-to-date period, comps grew 2 percent and net sales increased 4 percent to $3.430 billion.

L Brands operates 3,038 company-owned specialty stores in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and Greater China.

In pre-market trading on the NYSE, L Brands shares were gaining 2.32 percent to trade at $70. The company's shares had declined to a new low on May 20 after reporting weak profit for its first quarter and also expecting below market earnings for second quarter and fiscal 2016.

For Cato, sales for the month of May declined one percent to $87.4 million from sales of $88.5 million last year. Same-store sales were down 2 percent, compared to last year. The specialty retailer's Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer John Cato stated that the May same store sales were below expectations.

Sales for the seventeen weeks ended May 28 were $372.9 million, up one percent from the prior year, while year-to-date same-store sales decreased one percent. As of May 28, the Company operated 1,372 stores in 33 states, compared to 1,353 stores in 32 states last year.

For Buckle, comparable store net sales for the month of May decreased 11 percent and net sales decreased 10.4 percent to $67.4 million from $75.2 million last year.

Comparable store net sales for the 17-week period ended May 28 decreased 11.1 percent and net sales fell 10.3 percent to $310.9 million.

Buckle noted that net sales for both periods are net of the impact of both reward redemption and accruals for estimated future rewards related to its new Guest Loyalty program, which launched during the fiscal quarter ended April 30, 2016.

Nebraska-based Buckle, known as a denim destination, currently operates 467 retail stores in 44 states compared to 463 stores in 44 states last year.