Francesca’s Holding’s earnings outlook falls short from market expectations

Francesca's Holdings Corp. gave Wednesday a weaker-than-expected earnings outlook for its current quarter and full year. For the first quarter ending in May, the retailer forecast per-share earnings of 15 cents to 18 cents on revenue of 93 million to 96 million dollars.

Meanwhile, analysts polled by Thomson Reuters forecast earnings per share (EPS) of 21 cents on revenue of 94.7 million dollars.

For the full year - ending in January - Francesca's expects its earnings per share to come in between 81 and 90 cents on revenue of 412 million to 424 million dollars. This also comes behind the EPS estimated by analysts of 94 cents on revenue of 420.1 million dollars.

Commenting the results, chief executive Michael Barnes said the retailer will focus on improving its comparable sales performance and boosting its non-apparel categories.

On the upside, the quarter ended on January, 31 brought comparable sales up by 1 percent. This is the first increase in nearly two years after a string of declines, recalls ‘MarketWatch’.

Gross margin though, shrank to 45.7 percent from 50.6 percent a year earlier, weighed by markdowns taken to clear out merchandise.