Solid December Sales For Some U.S. Clothing Retailers

(RTTNews) - A sampling of U.S. apparel retailers on Thursday revealed increased December sales as the sudden plunge in gas prices and a brighter jobs picture made shoppers more willing to spend during the Christmas gifting season.

Retailers normally rake up 40 percent of their annual income in the all-important holiday season that starts in November and ends with Christmas.

A report released from the Conference Board on December 30 showed a significant rebound in consumer confidence in the month of December, propelled by a more favorable assessment of current economic and labor market conditions, after reporting an unexpected deterioration in U.S. consumer confidence in the previous month.

The U.S. consumer confidence index climbed to 92.6 in December from an upwardly revised 91.0 in November. Economists had expected the index to jump to a reading of 93.0 from the 88.7 originally reported for the previous month.

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 December comparable store sales increased 4 percent, reflecting strength in both Victoria's Secret and Bath & Body Works stores. Net sales were $2.21 billion, up 5 percent from $2.10 billion last year.

Stein Mart, Inc. (SMRT) reported 5.8 percent growth in comparable store sales for the month of December. Total monthly sales also grew 7.9 percent to $189.5 million from the prior-year month.

Teen apparel retailer Buckle, Inc. (BKE) announced that comparable store net sales for the month of December increased 2.5 percent. Net sales also grew 5.4 percent to $190.6 million from last year's $180.9 million.

Buckle also said it will begin including online sales in its reported comparable store sales from the February 2015 monthly sales release and for all future periods.

Value-priced fashion apparel retailer Cato Corp. (CATO) reported that December same-store sales grew 6 percent, and total sales also increased 9 percent from last year to $109.2 million.

"December same-store sales results were positively impacted by the weather and were above expectations," commented John Cato, Chairman, President, and CEO of Cato.

Another specialty retailer of action sports related apparel, footwear, equipment and accessories Zumiez, Inc. (ZUMZ) reported Wednesday that its comparable store sales for December grew 8.0 percent, on top of last year's 2.4 percent decline. This significantly topped analysts' expectations for a 3.9 percent increase. Total net sales also increased 14.4 percent from last year to $143.4 million.