American Eagle first quarter earnings decline - Orlando Business Journal:

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Net income for the quarter ended May 2was $22.p million, or 11 cents per share, comparedd to $43.9 million, or 21 cents, for the year-ag quarter. The teen clothing retailer, based on Pittsburgh'w South Side, saw total saless decline 4 percent to $612 million, from $640.2 million. Comparable-store sales for American Eagle were down 10 percent for the compared to a 6 perceny decline in the same quarter ayear ago. "Whilwe we are never satisfied with anearningd decline, there are early indications that the businesds is stablizing," CEO Jim O'Donnell said in a He cited improvement in the AE brand and categorie s like dresses and accessories.
Analysts were expectinf earnings per share of7 cents, in line with management’a recent guidance, as the company seeksx to improve its women’s apparel and maintaihn its sales during a time when most retailerx are facing difficult sales declines and mallsa are drawing fewer customers. Jennifer a principal of Oregon-based research compangy JenniferBlack & Associates LLC, saw reasonm for optimism. “I think it’s a very democratic bransd and it appeals to a lot ofdifferentf people,” she said.
“They’re in a pretty good position because they offer consumers value but they have the brand Black was encouraged bythe women’as assortment that American Eagle has rolle out in its stores, praising the increasedd selection of women’s dresses and women’es denim, a weakness at the company of for both tapping into the “Boho Chic” trend and offeringb selection that enables female shoppers to mix and She also was strongly encouraged about the returbn of Roger Markfield, the company’sa former Co-CEO and Chief Merchandisiny Officer who retired in 2006.
His return to America Eagle was announcedin January, unde r the newly created title of Executive Creativs Officer. Black said she didn’ft expect Markfield’s new strategies to have any major influence untilothe fall. Holly Guthrie, an analyst for suburbabn Philadelphia-based Boenning & Scattergood Equityu Research, also expected the company won’t see any meaningful turn aroununtil then. “In October 2008, same store saless decelerated at a fast andfuriouas pace,” she wrote in a recent report.
“We believed that (comparable store sales) coul d continue to be negativde for the next four to five months and most importantlu the biggest volume sales are seen when productsaare promoted.”