J. Crew swings to Q4 loss, dragged down by namesake brand

New York -- J. Crew Group Inc. saw fourth quarter namesake sales and traffic counts fall, which dragged down results for the quarter ended Jan. 31. J. Crew reported a loss of $30.6 million for the fourth quarter, compared with a profit of $5.9 million in the year-ago period. An impairment charge contributed $26 million to the negative results.



Revenue rose 3% to $705 million. Same-store sales fell 3%, following an increase of 3% in the year-ago period. Overall sales of the J. Crew brand slipped 0.1% to $621 million. Sales excluding newly opened stores fell 5%. However, sales of its Madewell brand grew 33% to $74 million, with same-store sales surging 14%.



J. Crew has recorded a shift toward online sales, as that division continues to perform while shopper counts at brick-and-mortar stores continue to decline.