Reuters
Feb 25, 2010
Gap beats Street by a penny, gives upbeat forecast
Reuters
Feb 25, 2010
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Gap Inc (GPS.N) posted a 45 percent rise in net income during its holiday quarter, helped by fewer discounts and improved sales in all its divisions, and gave a 2010 profit forecast that beat Wall Street's estimates.
Gap |
The apparel retailer, operator of Gap, Banana Republic and Old Navy stores, said on Thursday 25 February that net income in its fourth quarter ended January 30 was $352 million, or 51 cents per share, from $243 million, or 34 cents per share, a year earlier.
Analysts, on average, had been expecting earnings of 50 cents per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
Revenue rose 4 percent to $4.24 billion -- just above the $4.23 billion expected by Wall Street -- on a same-store sales gain of 2 percent from a decline of 14 percent a year earlier.
Gap's operating margin in the quarter was 13.9 percent compared with 9.8 percent in the year-ago period. Gap called that its highest fourth-quarter margin in more than a decade.
After a years-long sales slump, Gap has recently managed to turn around its sales through better merchandising, fashion and marketing, while beefing up its profit margins. It recently logged a 5 percent increase in overall January same-store sales, with gains in all its units.
Looking ahead, the company said it expects fiscal 2010 earnings per share to range between $1.70 to $1.75, above the $1.69 expected by Wall Street.
The company's shares closed at $20.39, up less than 1 percent.
(Reporting by Alexandria Sage; editing by Andre Grenon)
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