Cato Sept. Sales, Comps Down; Sees Significantly Lower FY Earnings - Quick Facts

(RTTNews) - Cato Corp. (CATO), a specialty retailer of value-priced fashion apparel and accessories, reported Thursday that its sales for the month of September were $69.8 million, an 8% decrease from sales of $76.2 million last year.

Same-store sales for the five-week period decreased 11% from the prior year.

Sales for the thirty-five weeks ended September 30 were $568.7 million, down 14%. The company's year-to-date same-store sales decreased 14% from the prior year.

John Cato, Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer, said, "Negative sales trends continue to put severe pressure on merchandise margins and profitability as we continue to work through our merchandise missteps. It is taking longer to work through these issues than expected and we expect full year earnings to be significantly below last year."

As of September 30, Cato operated 1,369 stores in 33 states, compared to 1,373 stores in 33 states as of October 1, 2016.

In pre-market activity, Cato shares were losing around 1.31 percent to $12.85.