Claire’s shares light up, hit fresh high
March 10th, 2006
Claire’s shares light up, hit fresh high
Mall favorite says sales hot, international growth’s on track
By Jennifer Waters, MarketWatch
Last Update: 4:30 PM ET Mar 9, 2006
CHICAGO (MarketWatch) — Investors cheered Claire’s Stores Inc.’s sharply higher fourth-quarter results, news about international growth and a brighter forecast to send shares sharply higher Thursday.
Claire’s Stores
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shares jumped 9.4% to close at $33.03 after setting a 52-week high of $33.25 in heavy trading.
The costume-jewelry retailer — a mall favorite among teens — said its profit shot up 16.7% to $69.1 million, or 69 cents a share, compared with last year’s profit of $55.5 million, or 56 cents a share. The company also operates the Icing by Claire’s concept.
Stripping out a charge linked to incremental taxes, earnings from continuing operations were 75 cents a share
Net sales were higher by 5% to $414.7 million. Same-store sales — a key industry measure of receipts rung up at stores open longer than a year — rose 6%. At Thomson First Call, analysts were looking for an average per-share profit 68 cents on revenue of $414 million.
The fiscal year was “a time of growth” for Claire’s international division, said Bonnie Schaefer, who shares the chair and chief executive posts with her sister Marla. “Beyond increasing our store count, we began conducting business in three new countries, namely Spain, Holland and Belgium.
Entry Filed under: Jewelry World
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