Guess Expects a Loss in Current Quarter

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Shares Guess Inc. fell nearly 6 percent in after-hours trading Wednesday after the apparel company reported a lower fourth-quarter profit and forecast a loss for the current quarter.

After the markets closed, the Los Angeles company reported net income of $69.6 million (82 cents a share) for the quarter ended Feb. 1, compared with net income of $75.6 million (85 cents) in the same period a year earlier. Revenue fell 5.7 percent to $768 million.

Excluding one-time items, the company earned 83 cents a share. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters on average expected adjusted earnings of 78 cents a share on revenue of more than $758 million.

The company said weak traffic at its North American stores and challenges in its European wholesale business likely would result in a net loss in the fiscal first quarter.

The company forecast fiscal first quarter revenue of $520 million to $535 million, with a net loss of 9 to 5 cents a share. The Wall Street consensus is for profit of 11 cents a share on revenue of $550 million.

“For fiscal year 2015, we still expect sales in our more developed businesses to be under pressure, especially in our own stores in North America and our European wholesale channel,” Chief Executive Paul Marciano said in a statement. “We will continue to invest in new markets like Japan and Brazil … and keep on investing in marketing.”

Shares earlier closed down 51 cents, or 1.7 percent, to $28.46 on the New York Stock Exchange, and fell 5.8 percent in after-market trading.

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