Dress Barn cuts FY '08 guidance

SUFFERN, N.Y. Dress Barn lowered its fiscal 2008 guidance due to weaker than expected results for the holiday season.

The company said it now estimates earnings per diluted share to be in the range of $1.05 to $1.10 for fiscal 2008, versus its previous earnings estimate of $1.25 to $1.35 per diluted share. The fiscal 2008 revised earnings per share estimate is based on various assumptions, including that comparable-store sales for the second half of the fiscal year will remain flat.

The company estimates comparable-store sales for its current fiscal second quarter will decrease by the mid-single digits.

David Jaffe, president and ceo stated, “Our overall sales for the current quarter have fallen short of our expectations. While we have been pleased with maurices’ continued increased sales performance, the current macro-economic pressures have had a greater impact on our dressbarn stores’ customer. This has required increased promotional activity in order to keep our dressbarn stores’ seasonal inventory to acceptable levels.”