Casual Male 4Q Profit Down

Canton, Mass. Casual Male Retail Group Inc. said Tuesday its fourth-quarter profit fell below analysts’ expectations due to falling customer traffic and hefty write-downs for inventory adjustments.

For the quarter ended Feb. 2, the company posted a net income from continuing operations of $1.3 million compared with $8.4 million a year ago.

Total sales fell 7.5% to $133.9 million. Same-store sales were down 0.3% for the period.

"During the most recent quarter, the environment for men's apparel was extremely challenging and Casual Male was affected by a reduction in store traffic of 7.5%," said David Levin, president and CEO of Casual Male.

For the 52 weeks in fiscal 2007, total sales decreased $1.3 million, or less than 1%, to $464.1 million from $465.4 million for the 53 weeks in fiscal 2006.

For fiscal 2008, the company said that it anticipates reducing its capital expenditures by almost half from 2007 levels, to between $11-$12 million. It also noted a planned reduction in average inventory levels by more than 10% by the end of the year.

In other 2008 initiatives, the company said it is intensifying its goal of improving market share by increasing its marketing spend to almost 8% of sales, up from just over 7% in 2007. The planned increase will allow Casual Male to support a mass media marketing campaign, planned for the second quarter of 2008, without compromising its traditional direct-mail campaigns.