Wet Seal sales comparison falls less than expected

Wet Seal key sales measure falls 4.5 percent in Sept. but beats analysts' expectations

• On 8:50 am EDT, Thursday October 8, 2009

FOOTHILL RANCH, Calif. (AP) -- The retailer Wet Seal Inc. on Thursday said that sales at stores open at least a year fell 4.5 percent in September and reaffirmed its third-quarter profit outlook.

Results for this key sales figures beat Wall Street estimates. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters forecast a 7.8 percent sales drop.

Sales at stores open at least a year are considered a key measure of retailer performance because they measure growth at existing stores rather than at newly opened ones.

The company reported that for Arden B and Wet Seal reported a drop of 1.1 percent and 5.3 percent, respectively, for this specific sales measure.

Net sales for the five-week period ended Oct. 3 fell 1.9 percent to $50.1 million.

President and CEO Ed Thomas said in a statement that September results benefited from Labor Day shifting one week later this year versus last year, which resulted in a similar one-week shift in back-to-school shopping.

Thomas also held the company's initial third-quarter profit outlook to a range between 2 cents per share and 5 cents per share. Analysts expect a profit of 3 cents per share, on average.

Shares of Wet Seal rose 10 cents, or 2.8 percent, to $3.63 in premarket trading.