US-based fashion retailer New York & Company has revealed its results for the first quarter of the current fiscal year.
The retailer reported that its net sales in the reporting quarter were US $ 216 million compared to US $ 223.4 million in the corresponding quarter last year. Besides, comparable store sales at New York & Company dropped 2.3 per cent and total net sales plunged 3.3 per cent in the period under review. Gross profit as a percentage of net sales fell 110 basis points to 27.7 per cent, compared to 28.8 per cent in the same period last year.
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The company release informs that GAAP net loss for the first quarter stood at US $ 5.7 million compared to the previous year’s GAAP net loss of US $ 4.7 million. Additionally, the fashion retailer converted 50 New York & Company stores to Outlet stores, and closed two New York & Company stores during the first quarter, ending the first quarter with 488 stores, including 132 Outlet stores and 2.5 million selling square feet in operation.
Commenting on the results, Gregory Scott, CEO, New York & Company said, “We began the quarter with positive sales trends; however, as we entered the last week of March, we experienced a slowdown in traffic to our brick-and-mortar stores, that continued into April, and led to sales and profitability below our expectations. This change in traffic was inconsistent with our quarter-to-date trend, and impacted our performance heading into the Easter Holiday. However, we continued to experience strength in traffic and sales in our eCommerce business, but these positives were not enough to overcome the negative traffic in stores, and weakness for seasonal categories, including crops, shorts, t-shirts and dresses.”
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In the second quarter of the fiscal year, New York & Company expects net sales and comparable store sales to remain flat to slightly negative.
