Ascena Retail Group on Monday announced sales results for its holiday period, and updated its fiscal 2019 second quarter earnings per share guidance.
The group’s holiday comp sales were up 3%, as presented by segment with its quarter-to-date enterprise level comp sales also going up by 3%. Meanwhile, the company has declared that it is expecting a loss of 23-28 cents per share for the quarter.
“We are pleased to have delivered enterprise comp sales and margin growth over the holiday period, although we continue to strive for more balanced performance across our brands.” – David Jaffe, Chief Executive Officer, Ascena Retail Group
Jaffe also added that “Momentum continued at loft and Ann Taylor, with strong product acceptance across both brands driving the double-digit comp sales and margin growth at our premium segment.”
“These positive developments were offset by performance at our kids and plus segments. At our kids segment, Justice store traffic slowed as we moved through the holiday period, requiring aggressive clearance activity to address its highly-seasonal specialty assortment prior to Christmas.” – David Jaffe, Chief Executive Officer, Ascena Retail Group
Jaffe concluded, “While we expect comp sales will be in line with our second quarter guide, elevated clearance activity at the plus and kids segments have pressured gross margin rate and as a result, we now expect a loss of 23-28 cents per share for the quarter. We are pleased with top-line trends coming out of holiday, and remain focused on building upon this momentum as we head into the Spring season.”
