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Strategies & Market Trends : Can you beat 50% per month? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Smiling Bob who wrote (9998)	5/19/2006 8:52:25 AM
From: Smiling Bob	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 19256

ANN - took a gamble and lost on this one. In too early, as economy yet to affect them. It will, but not for another qtr or two. Limited DD time limits the scope and depth, and results show. AnnTaylor's 1Q Profit More Than Doubles Friday May 19, 7:07 am ET AnnTaylor's 1Q Profit More Than Doubles, Boosts Full-Year Earnings Outlook by 10 Cents Per Share NEW YORK (AP) -- Women's apparel retailer AnnTaylor Stores Corp. said Friday that first-quarter profit more than doubled, helped by inventory management and higher sales of full-price items, prompting the company to raise its full-year earnings outlook. For the quarter ended April 29, earnings jumped to $39 million, or 53 cents per share, from $17 million, or 24 cents per share, a year earlier. The latest results included 1 cent per share in stock option expense. Sales rose 17 percent to $556.2 million from $476.4 million as revenue increased at both its Ann Taylor and Loft divisions. Same-store sales grew 5.6 percent at locations open at least one year. Analysts polled by Thomson Financial expected earnings of 40 cents per share on sales of $543.7 million. The company said total inventory levels were down about 19 percent per square foot at the end of the quarter. Gross margin rose to 56.6 percent of sales from 51 percent a year ago. AnnTaylor boosted its fiscal 2006 earnings guidance by 10 cents per share to a range of $1.70 to $1.75 per share, including an estimated 6-cent-per-share charge for stock option expensing. Excluding that expense, earnings are estimated at $1.76 to $1.81 per share, up 40 percent to 44 percent from a year earlier. The company also said it expects fiscal 2006 same-store sales growth in the low single-digits. Analysts expect AnnTaylor to post a fiscal-year profit of $1.69 per share.