American Apparel net sales increased 14% in Q1

American Apparel, Inc. announced preliminary sales for

the month and quarter ended March 31, 2012. The company reported that for the month ended March 31, 2012, total net sales increased 15% to $49 million when compared to the month ended March 31, 2011. Between the same periods, comparable store sales on a preliminary basis increased an estimated 21% and wholesale net sales increased an estimated 10%. For the quarter ended March 31, 2012, total net sales increased an estimated 14% to $132.7 million, comparable store sales increased an estimated 15% and wholesale net sales increased an estimated 17%.

Dov Charney, Chairman and CEO, stated, "We are very pleased to report strong sales performance in March across all three distribution channels and these results substantially exceeded our expectations,"  He further said, "Careful planning to our inventory commitments, merchandising strategy, and product assortment helped to drive our continued momentum. I would like to take this opportunity to reaffirm our guidance for EBITDA of $32 million to $40 million for 2012. As such, we believe we will be in a position to refinance elements of our higher cost capital structure and significantly reduce our interest expense by late 2012 or early 2013."

American Apparel is a vertically integrated manufacturer, distributor, and retailer of branded fashion  apparel based in downtown Los Angeles, California. As of March 31, 2012,American Apparel  operated 249 retail stores in 20 countries, including the United States, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, United Kingdom, Ireland, Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Israel, Australia, Japan, South Korea, and China. American Apparel also operates a leading wholesale business that supplies high quality T-shirts and other casual wear to distributors and screen printers. In addition to its retail stores and wholesale operations, American Apparel also operates an online retail e-commerce website.