By
Reuters
Reuters
Published
Mar 25, 2011
Mar 25, 2011
Talbots posts loss, Q1 sales trend weak
By
Reuters
Reuters
Published
Mar 25, 2011
Mar 25, 2011
March 24 - Talbots Inc posted a quarterly loss as the women's clothier struggled to keep pace with its clientele's fashion preferences, and said first-quarter sales so far were weak despite offering more discounts.
Scarf from Talbots lookbook |
Talbots, which caters to women aged 45 and above, has been trying to woo younger women by selling with trendier clothes, but without much success.
The Hingham, Massachusetts-based company, which had earlier warned of a weak fourth quarter, posted a net loss of $2.8 million, or 4 cents a share, compared with profit of $4.1 million, or 7 cents a share last year.
Sales fell 7 percent to $292.6 million.
Analysts' revised estimates were a loss of 18 cents a share, on revenue of $294.5 million, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
A harsher winter and huge discounts both hurt business at the retailer.
Talbots, which was established in 1947, said while first-quarter sales were better than in the fourth quarter, they were still down about 4 percent over last year.
Shares of the company have lost almost 40 percent of their worth since January, when Talbots forecast a weak fourth quarter. They had closed at $4.8 on the New York Stock Exchange on Wednesday.
(Reporting by Nivedita Bhattacharjee; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)
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