New York & Co. Inc. said on Thursday that third-quarter earnings more than doubled, aided by better sell-through rates and disciplined inventory and expense management.
For the three months ended Oct. 28, net income rose 130.9 percent to $9.6 million, or 16 cents a diluted share, from $4.2 million, or 7 cents, in the same year-ago quarter; the consensus among Wall Street analysts was for earnings of 15 cents a share. Sales for the quarter grew 6.5 percent to $270.9 million from $254.4 million, while total company same-store sales were up 0.5 percent, compared with a decline of 3.1 percent last year.
For the nine months, earnings fell 41.5 percent to $22.1 million, or 37 cents a diluted share, from $37.9 million, or 66 cents, last year. Sales increased 3.1 percent to $802.9 million from $778.9 million.
“Throughout the quarter our assortments were better aligned with the desires of our customers, and this allowed us to achieve improved sell-through rates,” Richard Crystal, chairman and chief executive officer, said in a conference call. “Also, our new leadership design and merchandising has begun to impact the business positively as full-floor sets delivered mid-August were much improved over those of the spring-summer deliveries.”
During the quarter, the women’s specialty apparel chain launched a national marketing campaign featuring celebrities Ellen Pompeo and Patrick Dempsey of the television show “Grey’s Anatomy.” The retailer also opened 20 New York & Co. doors, remodeled 12 locations and opened six new JasmineSola stores.
The company expects fourth-quarter earnings in the range of 37 cents to 46 cents a diluted share. For fiscal 2006, the company predicts earnings between 74 cents and 83 cents per diluted share.