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Same Store Sales Decrease 4%
Updates Fourth Quarter Guidance
Provides First Quarter Guidance
American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. (NYSE: AEO) today announced that total sales for the four weeks ended March 1, 2008 increased 5% to $175.1 million, compared to $166.3 million for the four weeks ended March 3, 2007. Comparable store sales were down 4% for the month, compared to a 6% increase for the same period last year.
February sales were below the company’s expectations, reflecting underperformance of the women’s assortment and lower traffic. The company continued to see strength in the AE men’s business, as well as AEO direct.
The company expects fourth quarter earnings of $0.66 per diluted share, which is flat compared to last year. This incorporates a 36% fourth quarter tax rate. Previous fourth quarter guidance was $0.64 to $0.65. The company will report earnings results on Wednesday, March 12th before the market opens.
Based on February results, the company expects negative comparable store sales to continue in the first quarter. It also expects to have higher markdowns compared to last year. These expectations are reflected in the first quarter earnings guidance of $0.25 to $0.27 per share, which compares to $0.35 cents per share last year.
American Eagle Outfitters designs, markets and sells its own brand of laidback, current clothing targeting 15 to 25 year-olds, providing high-quality merchandise at affordable prices. The original collection includes standards like jeans and graphic Ts as well as essentials like accessories, outerwear, footwear, basics and swimwear. American Eagle currently operates 855 stores in 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, and 75 AE stores in Canada. American Eagle also operates ae.com®, which offers additional sizes and styles of favorite AE® merchandise and ships to more than forty countries around the world. The American Eagle® brand also includes a Dormwear® collection, aerie™, which is available in 39 standalone stores, American Eagle stores and at aerie.com. The collection includes bras, undies, camis, hoodies, robes, boxers, sweats and leggings for the AE girl. Designed to be sweetly sexy, comfortable and cozy, the aerie brand offers AE customers a new way to express their personal style everyday, from the dormroom to the coffee shop to the classroom. 77E, a new multi-channel entertainment platform, features original and user-generated content on ae.com, in AE stores, on television, and on Web sites such as YouTube, MySpace and Facebook.
For more information, visit www.ae.com.