Marketing

NEW YORK — Reuben Hendell, chief strategy officer of GSI Commerce  and chief executive officer of its global agency services business, will be the keynote speaker at ACG New York’s Third Annual Digital Media & Technology M&A Conference in New York on Thursday, March 21, 2013, ACG New York announced.

The conference will focus on current M&A trends, deal structures, valuation strategies, hot-company and hot-technology identification, and traditional media survival strategies.

Specialty apparel retailer Chico’s reported strong fourth quarter results and announced plans to debut a new format and enter Canada in 2013.

The company said sales for the 14 week fourth quarter ended February 2, increased 14.5% to $652 million thanks to the inclusion of an extra week in the reporting period, a 3.7% same store sales increase and a net increase of 101 new stores that expanded selling space by 8.1%. The 3.7% comp increase is noteworthy because it came on top of an 8.7% comp increase during the fourth quarter the prior year.

Stanley Black & Decker said it completed its acquisition of Infastech, a global manufacturer and distributor of specialty engineered fastening technologies.

Stanley paid $850 million in cash for the Hong Kong-based company. The transaction was originally announced on July 2, 2012. 

Infastech’s annual revenues are about $580 million. 

Columbus, Ohio -- Limited Brands Inc. said that its fourth quarter net income in the 14-week period through Feb. 2, 2013, rose a better-than expected 14% to $411.4 million. That compares to a 13-week period that ended on Jan. 28, 2012, in which net income came to $359.4 million. The chain also forecast profit for the current quarter and fiscal year below analysts' expectations.
 

SAN FRANCISCO — Gap Inc. reported that net sales for the fourth quarter were $4.73 billion, compared with $4.28 billion for the same period last year. Same-store sales were up 5% for the quarter, compared with a 4% decrease during the same period last year.

Net income for the quarter was $351 million, or 73 cents per share on a diluted basis. This compares with net income of $218 million, or 44 cents per share on a diluted basis, for the same period last year.

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Limited Brands reported that adjusted earnings per share for the 14-week fourth quarter ended Feb. 2  were $1.76 compared with $1.50 for the 13-week fourth quarter ended Jan. 28, 2012.  

Comparable-store sales for the quarter increased 5%. Net sales were $3.86 billion for the quarter compared with $3.5 billion for the same period last year.  

Framingham, Mass. -- The TJX Cos. reported Wednesday a profit of $604.8 million for the quarter ended Feb. 2, compared with $475.3 million in the year-ago period. Despite the strong showing, TJX forecast a slowed growth pace for the new fiscal year and issued a profit forecast below analysts’ expectations. And joining many other retailers, the company announced that beginning with the fiscal 2014 second quarter, it will no longer report monthly sales.

ROCHESTER, New York — Crosman Corp., an international designer, manufacturer, and marketer of a wide range of products for the shooting sports, has announced the appointment of Jennifer Lambert as VP marketing. In her new position, Lambert will oversee the company’s strategic marketing efforts, with an emphasis on accelerating new product development.