Destination Maternity Q1 profit up

Philadelphia -- Destination Maternity, free of the restructuring charges that put a dent into profits last year, said its first-quarter net income more than quadrupled, easily topping Wall Street expectations. The chain reported earnings of $5.2 million from October to December, compared with $1.3 million for the same period in the prior year.



Revenue increased 1.2% to $135.4 million.



Destination has nearly completed is restructuring at a cost $3.9 million, of which $2.5 million was incurred in most recent quarter. The earnings report comes a day after the company announced a two-for-one stock split and initiated a dividend of 35 cents a share.



"We believe that the stock split, combined with the regular quarterly cash dividend, will make our stock even more attractive to a broader range of investors and may increase the trading liquidity of our stock," said CEO and president Ed Krell.