NEW YORK — New York & Co. posted a 17 percent jump in fourth-quarter earnings on Thursday, but shares of the women’s apparel retailer fell on disappointing first-quarter and full-year guidance.
For the three months ended Feb. 3, income jumped 16.6 percent to $24 million, or 40 cents a diluted share, from $20.6 million, or 36 cents, in the same year-ago period. Sales for the quarter increased 11 percent to $390.3 million from $351.6 million, and same-store sales climbed 1.2 percent.
Full-year earnings fell 21.1 percent to $46.2 million, or 77 cents a diluted share, from $58.5 million, or $1.02, last year. Sales climbed 5.5 percent to $1.19 billion from $1.13 billion last year.
“We’ll see what happens this week as we move into Easter,” Richard Crystal, chairman and chief executive officer, said during a conference call with Wall Street analysts. “The important thing is what happens in March, weeks four and five. Those are the absolutely key weeks and we believe our assortments are right [and we are] well positioned in dresses.”
The company said it expects first-quarter earnings in the range of 11 cents to 14 cents a diluted share, and 85 cents to 95 cents for fiscal 2007. This guidance includes a loss of about 5 cents a diluted share related to the company’s developing businesses, JasmineSola and e-commerce, and 3 cents a share related to increases in minimum wage guidelines.
Separately, the company said that, starting in the second quarter, it will no longer report sales on a monthly basis. The last monthly sales call will be on May 10, the release date for April’s sales results.