Holiday sales decline 0.9 percent at New York & Company

New York & Company has said that its comparable store sales for the nine week period ended January 3, 2015 decreased 0.9 percent, in-line with the company’s previously disclosed guidance in the company’s third quarter press release dated December 3, 2014.

The company detailed that with several weeks remaining in the quarter it now expects fourth quarter fiscal year 2014 non-GAAP adjusted operating results to range between breakeven and a slight loss, after excluding approximately 6.4 million dollars of non-operating charges comprised primarily of duplicative rent and moving expenses associated with the relocation of the company’s headquarters and severance related expenses. The company plans to report actual results for the fourth quarter and full fiscal year 2014 in March 2015.

Commenting on the update, Gregory Scott, New York & Company’s CEO, said, “While our fourth quarter sales are expected to be in-line with our prior guidance, it was nonetheless a challenging quarter as we experienced soft demand for seasonal product; including outerwear, sweaters, scarves and hats, which when combined with our previously disclosed delivery delays from the West Coast ports created top line sales pressure. These pressures combined with an aggressive holiday promotional environment led to an increase in our promotional activity, which adversely affected margins.”