Thursday, mall-based women's specialty retailer Cache Inc. (CACH) reported a 19% drop in same-store sales for December, hurt by soft consumer demand throughout the holiday season. In addition, the company revised its outlook for the fourth quarter and fiscal 2008, and said its board approved a new one million share repurchase program.
The New York- based company's net sales for the month declined 18% to $29.1 million. Comparable store sales for December dropped 19%, compared with a 10% decline in the same month of the earlier year.
For the 13-week period, net sales decreased 16% to $65.9 million, with 17% slide in comparable store sales, compared with a 7% drop in the last year. For fiscal 2008, net sales slid 3% to $265.8 million. Same-store sales for the year fell 4%, as compared to a decrease of 1% last year.
Cache said it expects to end the year with average inventory per store down in the range of 30% - 35% from the prior year-end with about $30 million in cash and marketable securities.
Considering the December sales results, the company said it now expects fourth-quarter loss in the range of $0.36-$0.38 per share, including about $0.03 per share in store impairment costs. This compares to previously projected earnings forecast range of $0.24-$0.29 per share.
Eight analysts polled by First Call/Thomson Financial currently expect the company to report loss of $0.04 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude one-time special items.
For fiscal 2008, loss is currently estimated within a range of $0.48-$0.50 per share, including $0.21 per share in charges, compared to prior predicted earnings range of $0.12-$0.17 per share.
Excluding charges, the company currently forecasts adjusted loss for 2008 between $0.27 and $0.29 per share. Earlier, the company had expected adjusted earnings to be at the lower end of $0.28-$0.33 per share range. Wall Street analysts currently estimate earnings of $0.01 per share for fiscal 2008.
In a separate statement, Cache announced a new one million share repurchase program, which it intends to execute through open market or in privately negotiated transactions. As at September 27, 2008, the company had 13,243,000 shares of common stock outstanding.
CACH closed Wednesday's trading at $2.17 at the Nasdaq.
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