Aeropostale holiday season sales down 11 percent

Aeropostale total net sales for the nine-week period ended January 3, 2015 decreased 11 percent to 507.8 million dollars, from 572 million dollars for the nine-week period ended January 4, 2014. Comparable sales, including the e-commerce channel decreased 9 percent compared to a 15 percent decrease last year.

Based on better than expected margins and expense management, the company now expects operating losses for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2014 in the range of 18 dollars to 23 million dollars, which translates to a net loss in the range of approximately 0.25 dollars to 0.31 dollars per diluted share.

Elaborating on the company’s performance, Julian R. Geiger, Chief Executive Officer, said, “During the holiday period, we achieved higher margins than originally expected, while delivering comparable sales results that were consistent with our original guidance for the quarter.”

This revised outlook compares to the company's previously issued guidance of operating losses in the range of 28 dollars to 34 million dollars, which translated to a net loss in the range of 0.37 dollars to 0.44 dollars per diluted share. The company expects to announce fourth quarter and fiscal 2014 earnings results on March 12, 2015.