Express Raises Annual Profit Forecast

With the decrease in discount activities and the increase in sales expected to exceed 9%, the US apparel retailer Express Inc. (NYSE:EXPR) doubled its net profit in the first quarter and raised its annual profit forecast.

Express Inc. in the first quarter ended May 2nd

From $5 million 100 thousand last year to $13 million 100 thousand, the diluted earnings per share increased by $0.15 from $0.06 and adjusted earnings per share were US $0.22.

The Group expects earnings per share in the two quarter to be between 0.13-0.16 dollars and higher.

For the 0.11 US dollars, the annual earnings per share was expected to rise to US $1.06 from the previous 0.93-1.07 US dollar, and the market is expected to be US $1.06.

Revenue in the first quarter was $502 million 400 thousand, an increase of 9.1% over the same period last year of $460 million 700 thousand, far outperforming the $487 million 800 thousand expected by the market.

The same store sales increased by 7%. The Group expects that the same quarter sales will have a low single digit growth in the two quarter and the whole year.

The gross profit margin in the first quarter increased by 330 basis points to 33.1%, compared with 29.8% in the same period last year, thanks to better product mix compared with the same period last year.

From 2007

Inc. (NYSE:LB) split Express Inc. negotiations with the US private equity fund Holdings Company Sycamore Partners earlier this year have ended. Negotiations broke down because Sycamore Partners did not get favorable financing terms when financing the paction, which means that banks are dissatisfied with the current financial situation of Express Inc. (NYSE:EXPR).

Rating agency Standard & Poor's Standard & Poor's credit rating for Express Inc. (NYSE:EXPR) is "BB", and last month, its outlook has been reduced from "stable" to "negative", reflecting its expected performance.