NEW YORK — Maidenform Brands Inc. reported a 14.5 percent gain in second-quarter sales to $117.1 million, citing a solid performance in the core intimate business and new product initiatives.
The company introduced push-up and strapless products in the Dream Collection, expanded the One Fabulous Fit line with Invisible Options and launched Flexees One Fabulous Body and zippered waist-nippers.
For the three months ended July 1, Maidenform posted a net income of $9.4 million, or 39 cents a diluted share, compared with $2.6 million, or a loss of 58 cents a diluted share, in the same period last year.
Wholesale net sales jumped 17.3 percent to $102.6 million and total international sales increased 27.5 percent.
Same-store sales for Maidenform’s outlet stores climbed 2.6 percent and Internet sales rose 14.3 percent.
The company said sales to department stores and national chain stores rose $5.7 million to $59.6 million, and sales in the mass channel grew $8.3 million to $31 million. Other sales, which include sales to specialty and off-price retailers as well as licensing income, increased $1.1 million to $12 million.
Citing expansion opportunities, the company revised its outlook for the rest of 2006, projecting net sales gains in the 6 to 8 percent range and gross margins of about 37.5 percent. The previous outlook for net sales was 5 to 7 percent, with gross margins estimated at 37 percent.
“We are optimistic about the company’s business opportunities and we continue to remain sensitive to the rather challenging macroeconomic environment out there,” Dorvin Lively, Maidenform’s chief financial officer, said on a conference call to Wall Street. “We originally planned our business cautiously for the year, particularly due to the challenges that occurred during the fourth quarter of 2005. We don’t expect to see those issues at any significant level again during the later part of this year.”