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NEW YORK, United States — Teen apparel retailer Abercrombie & Fitch Co reported a surprise increase in quarterly sales at established stores due to demand for its Hollister branded clothing and strong online sales in the holiday shopping season.
The retailer's shares rose about 6 percent to $31.14 in premarket trading on Wednesday.
Abercrombie said sales at stores open at least 12 months rose 1 percent in the fourth quarter ended Jan. 30, breaking a streak of more than 3 years of decline.
Analysts on average were expecting comparable sales to decline 0.10 percent, according to research firm Consensus Metrix.
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The company has been offering trendier clothing such as floral prints, aiming to win back customers who shunned its once-popular preppy, logo-centric apparel.
Abercrombie said it expected comparable sales to be flat to slightly positive in fiscal 2016. Analysts on average had expected a rise of 0.8 percent.
Net income attributable to the company rose 30.1 percent to $57.7 million in the latest fourth quarter. Excluding items, it earned $1.08 per share.
Net sales fell 0.6 pct to $1.11 billion, shy of analysts average estimate of $1.10 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
By Subrat Patnaik; editor: Savio D'Souza.
