Christopher & Banks Q3 Results Top Estimates

(RTTNews) - Specialty women's apparel retailer Christopher & Banks Corp. (CBK) reported Wednesday a profit for the third quarter that soared from last year, reflecting lower costs and expenses as well as an increase in same-store sales. Both earnings per share and quarterly revenues topped analysts' expectations.

"Our momentum continued in the third quarter as reflected in our sixth consecutive quarter of comparable store sales growth and strong bottom line results. We attribute our positive performance to the continued refinement of our merchandise strategy, greater focus on targeted marketing programs, optimization of our multi-channel opportunities and our enhanced store experience," President and CEO LuAnn Via said in a statement.

Plymouth, Minnesota-based Christopher & Banks reported net income of $8.61 million or $0.23 per share for the third quarter, higher than $3.58 million or $0.10 per share in the prior-year quarter, which included $0.33 million pretax restructuring charges.

On average, three analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report earnings of $0.11 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Net sales for the quarter edged up to $118.08 million from $117.26 million in the same quarter last year, and topped analysts' consensus estimate of $117.26 million by a whisker.

Same-store sales increased 4.9 percent over a strong 13.6 percent same-store sales growth last year.

The company said it operated an average of 7.3 percent fewer stores during the third quarter, reflecting its store rationalization program.

Total costs and expenses declined to $109.46 million from $113.65 million in the year-ago quarter.

Looking ahead to the fourth quarter, Christopher & Banks expects same-store sales to increase in the low-single digit range. The company also expects average store count to be down 6.8 percent, compared to last year.

For fiscal 2013, the company projects average store count to be down 8.4 percent from last year.

"As we head into the holiday season we believe that our merchandise assortment and our marketing program offer our customer the right balance of quality and price to meet her needs. That said, we expect the promotional environment to remain aggressive, and we will remain diligent in managing inventory levels and operating costs, accordingly. We look forward to a solid ending to a challenging 2013 retail environment and we remain confident in our three-year growth plan," Via added.

CBK closed Tuesday's regular trading session at $6.48, up $0.37 on a volume of 0.22 million shares.