Abercrombie & Fitch narrows loss on rising sales

New Albany, Ohio Abercrombie & Fitch Co. narrowed its loss in the first quarter ended May 1 on improved sales, but the specialty retailer made less money on some sales and was hurt by higher expenses.

Abercrombie posted a loss of $11.8 million in the quarter, compared with a loss of $59.2 million in the year-ago period. The results matched Wall Street expectations.

Revenue increased 14% to $687.8 million, from $601.7 million, topping analysts’ projections of $680.5 million.

Domestic sales rose 5% to $568.8 million, while international sales more than doubled to $119 million.

Same-store sales inched up 1%, helped by increases at both abercrombie kids and its namesake stores. Hollister Co.'s results dipped 2%.

Abercrombie has announced it will open Abercrombie & Fitch flagship stores in Copenhagen, Denmark, and Fukuoka, Japan, and a Hollister Epic store in New York City. The retailer also confirmed plans to open about 25 international mall-based Hollister stores, one Abercrombie & Fitch store in Canada and a Gilly Hicks store in the United Kingdom. In the United States, Abercrombie said it expects to open three of its namesake stores, two abercrombie kids stores, three Hollister stores, two Gilly Hicks stores and five outlet stores.

Abercrombie & Fitch operates 1,100 stores.