ANN INC. Updates Q2 Outlook - Quick Facts

(RTTNews) - ANN INC. (ANN) updated its outlook for the fiscal second quarter of 2014, reflecting lower-than-anticipated comparable sales and gross margin rate performance. Based on preliminary results, the company now expects second-quarter net sales to be $648 million, reflecting a comparable sales decline of 2.3%.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expect the company to report revenue of $672.43 million for the quarter.

At the Ann Taylor brand, total comparable sales increased 0.7%, reflecting an increase of 2.0% at Ann Taylor partially offset by a decline of 1.9% in the Ann Taylor Factory channel. At the LOFT brand, total comparable sales declined 4.1%, reflecting a decrease of 5.2% at LOFT and an increase of 0.3% in the LOFT Outlet channel.

Kay Krill, President and CEO said, "Despite positive performance through mid-June, the remainder of the second quarter proved more challenging, with soft traffic across the industry and a highly promotional environment. While we delivered a positive comp for the quarter at Ann Taylor, we were disappointed in our performance at LOFT, which experienced continued softness in basic knit tops that represent a meaningful component of LOFT's summer assortment. We took action to move through summer product, which pressured gross margin but enabled us to end the quarter with clean inventories at both brands."