Abercrombie & Fitch Same-Store Sales Drop

Abercrombie & Fitch Co. said Thursday that sales in stores open at least a year sank 15 percent in September, slightly worse than analysts predicted.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expected a drop of 14.7 percent in the four-week period ending Oct. 31. The metric is considered a key retail performance indicator because it measures growth from existing stores rather than newly opened ones.

At its Abercrombie & Fitch stores, sales in locations open at least a year fell 8 percent last month, beating analysts' expectation for a decline of 10.1 percent.

At the children's chain abercrombie, sales in locations open a year declined 17 percent. Analysts forecast a drop of 14.2 percent.

Meanwhile, at the company's Hollister Co. stores, sales in locations open at least a year fell 21 percent, worse than estimates of 17.2 percent. At Ruehl stores, the metric fell 23 percent, better than the 26 percent drop forecast by analysts.

Overall in October, the retailer said sales fell 5 percent to $203.4 million.

For the year to date, sales in locations open at least a year have fallen 27 percent, while net sales have dropped 20 percent to $2.03 billion.

The company will release its third-quarter results Nov. 13.

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