LNT Issues 1Q Warning
By Staff -- Home Textiles Today, 3/14/2005
Clifton, N.J. —Hoisting a yellow flag, superstore retailer Linens 'n Things cautioned analysts and investors to expect a first quarter loss, as flagging traffic and weak sales of home textiles generated a slide in same-store sales “in the mid single-digits.”
The company said it expects to record a loss of 8 to 12 cents per share, revising an earlier forecast of 6 to 9 cents.
Norman Axelrod, chairman and CEO, said, “Our overall sales performance was primarily impacted by a decline in guest traffic. Our fashion textiles business was particularly challenging as we continue to transition our assortments.” The gross margin rate, he said, “remained healthy,” but the overall operating margin — operating profits measured as a percentage of sales — declined on the lower level of sales.
An unforgiving Wall Street pushed the retailer's stock down 12 percent or $3.20 per share to $23.10 after the news came out on Friday, March 11.
