Teen clothing retailer Abercrombie & Fitch, struggling to keep up with the tastes of young shoppers, reported a quarterly loss as comparable-store sales fell for the seventh straight quarter.
A&F reported a net loss of $15.6 million, or 20 cents per share, for the third quarter ended Nov. 2, compared with net income of $84.0 million, or $1.02 per share, a year earlier.
Excluding items A&F earned 52 cents per share, including a tax benefit of 6 cents per share.
Net sales fell 12 percent to $1.03 billion while total comparable sales, including online sales, fell 14 percent.
A&F also warned of a “significant” erosion in gross margins and a low double-digit percentage fall in comparable sales as it enters the holiday shopping quarter with excess inventory.