Wet Seal October sales comparison rises

Wet Seal October sales comparison rises, beats analyst expectations; narrows 3rd-qtr outlook

• On 8:22 am EST, Thursday November 5, 2009

FOOTHILL RANCH, Calif. (AP) -- Teen apparel retailer The Wet Seal Inc. said Thursday that sales in stores open at least one year fell 1.3 percent, a much smaller drop than analysts predicted, and narrowed its third-quarter earnings guidance.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters, on average, expected same-store sales to fall 7.8 percent.

Total sales for the four weeks ended Oct. 31 rose 2 percent to $41 million.

Sales at stores open at least a year are a key measure of retailer performance because they measure growth at existing stores rather than from newly opened ones. They rose 8.2 percent at the company's Arden B chain and fell 3.1 percent at namesake stores.

For the quarter ended Oct. 31, sales in stores open at least one year fell 6.2 percent while total sales fell nearly 4 percent to $141.5 million. Analysts expected sales of $138.9 million.

Wet Seal said it expect third-quarter earnings of 4 cents per share, from previous guidance of earning of 2 cents to 5 cents per share. Analysts predict a profit of 3 cents per share.