Abercrombie & Fitch Report

abercrombie and fitch (ANF 34.66, +1.70) reported second quarter results that pleased investors, pushing shares of the company more than 5% higher in the first few minutes of Friday's trading.


abercrombie and fitch reported a second quarter loss of $0.30 per share. The results include charges and impairments related to the closing of Ruehl and may not be comparable to the First Call consensus that called for a loss of $0.07 per share.

Abercrombie's results reflected a loss before income taxes of $19.8 million, which includes pretax charges of $24.4 million associated with the closure of Ruehl operations and related store asset impairment charges.

Revenues plunged 23.3% year-over-year to $648.5 million; the consensus expected $646.5 million. Same-store sales fell a sharp 30% year-over-year.

abercrombie and fitch said the gross profit rate for the quarter was 66.5%, 360 basis points lower than the same period last year. The decrease was primarily attributable to a higher markdown rate, the company said.

"We continued to be confronted with very challenging conditions during the second quarter," said CEO Mike Jeffries. "We believe we are doing the right things to address those challenges and improve our domestic business."abercrombie and fitch