American Eagle profit drops

Pittsburgh American Eagle Outfitters said Wednesday that its fourth-quarter net income fell to $32.7 million, from $140.5 million a year earlier.

Sales fell 9% to $905.7 million, from $995.4 million. Comparable-store sales declined 16%.

“The fourth quarter proved to be a disappointing conclusion to an extremely challenging year,” said Jim O’Donnell, CEO. “In response to sharply lower demand in the fourth quarter, we increased unplanned promotions, enabling us to successfully clear through inventory. While our earnings were clearly not up to our standards or our potential, our business remains profitable and financially healthy.”

O’Donnell continued, “Looking ahead, we cannot accept this kind of performance, recession or not. We know that our customer responds when we have the right fashion at the right price. As such, we are vigorously pursuing major improvements within all of our brands, while maintaining a conservative approach toward inventory investments, capital spending and operating expense.”