Talbots reports sluggish 4Q sales

HINGHAM, Mass. Talbots today reported fourth quarter sales of $587 million, compared to sales of $638 million for the same period last year.

The company reported that a weak November and December contributed to a comparable-store sales decline of 6% for the quarter. The company added that comparable-store sales in January were positive.

Total company year-to-date sales for the 52 weeks ended Feb. 2 were $2.3 billion compared to $2.2 billion for the 53 weeks ended Feb. 3, 2007.

Consolidated comparable-store sales declined 5.5% for the recent 52-week period.

On a GAAP basis, the company currently expects to report a net loss for the fourth quarter ending Feb. 2 in the range of ($2.10) to ($2.15) per share, compared to last year’s breakeven per share for the same period.

Trudy Sullivan, president and ceo of Talbots commented, “Unfortunately, worsening economic conditions in the fourth quarter exacerbated problems that we had already recognized and have been working to address, and impacted our near-term performance.”