Urban Outfitters Q3 profit falls 31%

Philadelphia -- Urban Outfitters Inc.’s third-quarter profit fell 31% amid a decline in same-store sales and as merchandise markdowns continued to weigh on margins.



For the quarter ended Oct. 31, Urban Outfitters posted earnings of $50.7 million, down from $73.1 million in the year-ago period.



Gross margin narrowed to 35.4% from 41.1%, partly due to increased merchandise markdowns at Anthropologie and Urban Outfitters. Total inventories grew by $78 million.



Net sales, as reported earlier, increased 6.3% to $610 million. Same-store sales were down 7%.