Christopher & Banks Slips To Loss In Q2

9/24/2009 5:04 PM ET

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(RTTNews) - Thursday, women's apparel retailer Christopher & Banks Corp (CBK: News ), reported a loss for the second quarter as same store sales declined 22%, reflecting weak traffic trends. Looking ahead, Christopher & Banks expects a decline in comparable store sales in the low-to-mid teens for the third quarter of fiscal 2010.

The Plymouth, Minnesota-based company's net loss for the second quarter was $2.13 million or $0.06 per share, from a profit of $0.84 million or $0.02 per share a year earlier.

Loss from continuing operations for the quarter was $2.13 million or $0.06 per share, compared to income from continuing operations of $2.04 million or $0.06 per share in the same quarter last year. Net loss from discontinued operations for the quarter was $1.20 million or $0.03 per share.

On average, four analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report a loss of $0.14 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude one-time charges and gains.

Net sales for the quarter dropped to $101.20 million from $128.50 million in the year-ago quarter. Analysts had a consensus revenue estimate of $103.57 million for the third quarter.

Same store sales for the quarter dropped 22% year-over-year, while inventory, per store for the quarter was down 24% from last year.

Merchandise, buying and occupancy expenses for the quarter decreased to $66.20 million from $78.71 million last year.

Operating loss for the quarter was $3.48 million, compared to operating income of $2.80 million in the prior year quarter.

For the six-month period, net loss was $0.45 million or $0.01 per share, compared to a net income of $12.11 million or $0.34 per share in the same period last year. Loss from continuing operations for the quarter was $0.45 million or $0.01 per share, compared to income from continuing operations of $13.79 million or $0.39 per share last year.

Net sales for six months declined to $221.55 million from $283.85 million in the corresponding period last year.

Looking forward to the third quarter, the company forecast gross margin to improve by a couple hundred basis points. Capital expenditures are expected to be $8 million to $9 million for the full fiscal year, in line with original plan, while cash flow is currently expected to be positive for fiscal 2010.

The company also indicated making significant progress on its key fiscal 2010 initiatives to position itself for a long-term sustained growth. At August 29, the company operated 811 stores, compared to 854 stores at August 30, 36 of which were Acorn stores.