Gap Inc. reported a higher first-quarter profit on Thursday, helped by a rise in same-store sales at its Old Navy and namesake chains, and growth in Asia.
Gap has staged a comeback in the last few years, offering hipper fashions that have found favor again with shoppers that in the interim had flocked to Zara parent Inditex and homegrown competitors such as Forever21.
The company, which also owns Banana Republic, posted net income of $333 million, or 71 cents per share, for the quarter ended May 4, up 42.9 percent from $223 million, or 47 cents per share, a year earlier. That was two cents better than Wall Street forecasts, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
Despite the rise in profit, Gap stuck to its forecast and still expects a profit for the year of $2.52 to $2.60 per share.