Chico’s net sales down 3.7 percent in Q3

For the thirteen weeks ended October 31, 2015, net sales at Chico’s were 641.2 million dollars, a decrease of 3.7 percent compared to 665.6 million dollars in last year's third quarter, primarily reflecting a 3.3 percent decrease in comparable sales and a 0.8 percent net decrease in selling square footage.

Third quarter highlights

The company reported adjusted net income of 17.7 million dollars compared to adjusted net income of 28.9 million dollars for the thirteen weeks ended November 1, 2014, and adjusted earnings per diluted share of 0.13 dollar compared to adjusted earnings per diluted share of 0.19 dollar in last year's third quarter.

During the quarter the company signed a non-binding letter of intent to sell the Boston Proper direct-to-consumer (DTC) business. Including the impact of the net charges related to DTC business, the company reported a net loss of 11.6 million dollars, or 0.09 dollar per diluted share, compared to net income of 26.5 million dollars, or 0.17 dollar per diluted share, in last year's third quarter.

For the thirty-nine weeks ended October 31, 2015, Chico’s reported adjusted net income of 99.7 million dollars compared to 101.2 million dollars for the same period last year and adjusted earnings per diluted share of 0.70 dollar compared to 0.66 dollar in the same period last year.