Ascena Retail Group Q2 profit up 50%; opening 125 stores in fiscal 2012

Suffern, N.Y. -- Ascenta Retail Group Inc., whose brands include Dressbarn, Maurices, and Justice, said its fiscal second-quarter profit rose 50% on higher sales. The company raised its earnings forecast for the current fiscal year.



Ascena said that during the quarter ended Jan. 28 it earned $63.7 million, compared with $42.5 million in the same period a year before.



Revenue during the quarter rose 15% to $862 million. E-commerce sales jumped 61% to $52 million in the quarter.



As the spring shopping season starts, Ascena Retail Group said it plans to open about 85 stores and close around 20 other locations. For the full 2012 fiscal year, it plans to open 145 stores and close 55, and will close the year with about some 2,600 locations.