AnnTaylor Stores Corp. (ANN) reported that its fourth-quarter net income was $41 thousand or breakeven per share, compared to a loss of $375.61 million or $6.66 per share in the same quarter last year.
For the fourth quarter of 2009, the Company reported earnings per share of $0.05, excluding after-tax restructuring charges of $0.05 per share, compared to a net loss per share of $1.03 in the fourth quarter of 2008, excluding after-tax restructuring, goodwill and asset impairment charges totaling $5.63 per share.
Net sales were $469.1 million, down from $483.4 million in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2008. Comparable store sales for the quarter were essentially flat, at negative 0.6% versus the prior year. At Ann Taylor, comparable store sales declined 7.3% while at LOFT, comparable stores sales increased 2.1%.
Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report a loss of $0.01 per share on revenues of $472.25 million for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.
For the fiscal first quarter of 2010, the company expects total net sales to be approximately $445 million. Analysts expect the company to report revenues of $443.72 million for the first-quarter.
The Company currently expects fiscal 2010 total net sales to improve over the levels achieved in 2009. Analysts expect the company to report revenues of $1.84 billion for fiscal 2010.
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