Christopher & Banks Loss Narrows Despite Adverse Weather

(RTTNews) - Christopher & Banks Corp. (CBK), a specialty women's apparel retailer, Thursday reported a narrower loss for the fourth quarter, as lower expenses helped mitigate the impact of a drop in sales in the 13-week-period that was hurt by adverse weather and store closings. The company believes it is on track to deliver on its three-year growth plan.

LuAnn Via, CEO, said,"Despite the negative sales impact from temporary store closings and challenging traffic trends caused by the multiple snow storms and arctic temperatures during the fourth quarter, we met our quarterly financial goals.''

Via said the company experienced strong customer response to its merchandise offering and marketing efforts on days not hit by weather.

Net loss for the 13-week quarter narrowed to $286 thousand or $0.01 per share from $4.05 million or $0.11 per share in the previous year that comprised 14 weeks.

Two analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report a loss of $0.03 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Net sales totaled $104.93 million, compared to $115.98 million last year. The fourteenth week in 2012 contributed about $5.1 million to net sales. Two analysts estimated revenues of $106.15 million for the quarter.

Same-store sales decreased 1.4 percent, as compared to the thirteen weeks ended February 2, 2013. The company noted that this follows an 18.5 percent same-store sales increase in last year's fourth quarter.

Total costs and expenses declined to $105.44 million from $120 million in the previous year, mainly due to lower Merchandise, buying and occupancy expenses.

During the quarter, the company operated an average of 43, or 6.9 percent fewer stores than during the comparable period last year.

Looking ahead, the company expects same-store sales to be relatively flat to last year's first quarter.

For 2014, the retailer expects average store count to be down 7 percent and average square footage for the year to drop 4 percent from fiscal 2013. The company plans to end the fiscal year with a total square footage increase of 2 percent.

The retailer said it remains focused on its key strategies, which include refining the merchandise assortment, maintaining healthy inventory levels, creating compelling marketing programs and capitalizing on eCommerce site to drive incremental traffic and sales.

Additionally, the company will continue to execute on its real estate plans to drive higher store sales productivity and four-wall operating profit. Christopher & Banks believes it is on track to deliver on its three-year growth plan.

CBK closed up 1.3 percent on Wednesday at $6.18.