Financials - Web sales rebound for Abercrombie in Q3

After months of declining web sales, e-commerce revenue ticked upward for specialty apparel retailer Abercrombie & Fitch in the third quarter.

Zak Stambor

Managing Editor

After months of declining web sales, e-commerce revenue ticked upward for specialty apparel retailer Abercrombie & Fitch Co. in the third quarter.

For the quarter ended Oct. 31:

Web sales increased 11.1% to $63.9 million from $57.5 million. Increased international sales were a contributing factor, the company says.
Total revenue declined 14.6% to $765.4 million from $896.3 million.
Comparable-store sales declined 22%.
The web accounted for 8.3% of total sales compared with 6.4% in the prior year.
Net income was $38.7 million compared with $63.9 million in the previous year.

"During the quarter, we made advances in our international strategy with the opening of a flagship location in Italy as well as additional Hollister mall-based stores in the United Kingdom,” says CEO Mike Jeffries. “The passion and enthusiasm from the international customer that greeted us at these openings encourage us in our long-term strategy of aggressively pursuing international growth for our brands."

For the first three quarters:

Web sales decreased 8.1% to $161.7 million from $175.9 million.
Total revenue declined 20.5% to $2.02 billion from $2.54 billion.
Net loss was $47.2 million compared with net income of $203.8 million in the previous year.

Abercrombie & Fitch, is No. 58 in the Internet Retailer Top 500 Guide, (a PDF version of the company’s financial and operating profile can be order by clicking on its name.)