Pacific Sunwear 2Q hurt by weak July

ANAHEIM, Calif. Pacific Sunwear of California Inc. Thursday announced that total sales for the second quarter ended Aug. 4 were $344.2 million, an increase of 9.7% over total sales of $313.7 million for the second quarter of fiscal 2006 ended July 29, 2006.

Total company same-store sales increased 1.8% during the second quarter of fiscal 2007. By concept, PacSun same-store sales increased 3% and demo same-store sales decreased 10.7%.

For the second quarter of fiscal 2007, the company recorded a net loss of $10.5 million, or 15 cents per diluted share, compared to net income of $9.7 million, or 14 cents per diluted share, for the second quarter of fiscal 2006.

``Our second quarter results underscore that while elements of our efforts to improve the PacSun stores are showing progress, we still have a lot of work to do,'' commented Sally Frame Kasaks, ceo. ``July ended much weaker than we projected, which we believe was in part due to the impact of the late back to school starts in Florida and Texas, two of our most significant markets. On a positive note, strength in our PacSun juniors' business is an indicator that we have identified the right fashion trends for back to school.''

Total sales for the first half ended Aug. 4 were $664.8 million, an increase of 8.4% over total sales of $613.6 million during the first half  ended July 29, 2006.

Total company same-store sales increased 0.4% during the first half. By concept, PacSun same-store sales increased 1.9% and demo same-store sales decreased 11.5%.

For the first half of fiscal 2007, the company recorded a net loss of $15.6 million, or 22 cents per diluted share, compared to net income of $21.6 million, or 30 cents per diluted share, in the first half of fiscal 2006 ended July 29, 2006.