Hoffman continued, "As a result of these decisions, we have reclassified our financial statements to reflect all but a few of the Rampage stores as discontinued operations on the balance sheet and income statement. The year-to-date improvements at our Charlotte Russe business are evident with the 176% increase in net income from continuing operations shown on the accompanying income statement."
"Improved sales at the Charlotte Russe stores were led by building strength in fashionable and trend-right apparel, combined with our leading accessories and footwear assortments. Looking forward, we are focused on driving positive comp increases as we anniversary the double-digit increases that began this time last year. In addition, we expect to open 20 new stores in the fourth quarter, and there are 23 stores being remodeled to the 'bright-store' prototype. With over 50 new stores targeted for fiscal 2007, we see potential to reinvest our strong operating cashflow back into the business and grow the Charlotte Russe stores to over 600 locations during the next several years."
"Assuming no significant change in the overall retailing environment, we would guide investors to expect mid single-digit positive comparable store sales in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2006 with diluted earnings per share from continuing operations of 42 to 46 cents, compared to as much as 32 cents from continuing operations last year. As fiscal 2006 is a 53-week fiscal year for the company, this year's fourth quarter will include 14 weeks, in comparison to last year's 13-week fourth quarter," Hoffman concluded.
marketing@alchempro.com
