An acquisition helps apparel retailer Ascena boost Q1 web sales 156%

The web accounted for 7.3% of Q1 sales for Ascena, parent of Justice, Dress Barn and Maurice's.

Ascena Retail Group Inc. started the 2013 fiscal year with bigger e-commerce sales, largely a result of the apparel retailer’s acquisition of Charming Shoppes Inc. in June.

For the first quarter of fiscal 2013 ended Oct. 27, Ascena, No. 171 in the 2012 Internet Retailer Top 500, reported:

• E-commerce sales increased year over year about 156.2% to $83.0 million from $32.4 million. The sales reflect an undisclosed amount of Internet revenue for former Charming Shoppe’s web properties such as LaneBryant.com. Without the Charming Shoppes numbers, Ascena’s e-commerce sales grew year over year 42%, to $46.0 million, although the company didn’t break out any metrics.
• Total sales increased 48.4% to $1.14 billion from $768.3 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2012.
• Comparable-store sales increased 1%.
• Net income decreased 9.3% to $43.1 million from $47.5 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2012.

The web accounted for 7.3% of total sales compared with 4.2% in the prior year.

Ascena, which also operates the Justice, Dress Barn and Maurice’s women’s apparel brands, acquired Charming Shoppes (No. 128) in a deal valued at $890 million.