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Charming Shoppes Sales Not So Charming

Jeanine Poggi

Maybe investors should believe Charming Shoppes(CHRS Quote) executives when they say their quarterly results were disappointing.

Sure, the plus-size apparel retailer narrowed its loss in the first quarter, on par with analysts expectations, but its same-store sales were not competitive with other retailers in the women's sector -- which company executives readily owned up to.

During the quarter the company recorded a loss of $6.6 million, or 6 cents a share, compared with a loss of $46.8 million, or 41 cents, in the year-ago period. Excluding one-time items, the company actually posted a surprise profit of 1 cent a share, surpassing analysts expectations of a 5 cent loss.

But sales tanked 16% to $538.1 million from $641.3 million, as same-store sales tumbled 13% due to store closings.

"While our performance for the first quarter reflected a difficult retail environment and did exceed our earnings guidance, our results were nevertheless disappointing," said President and CEO Jim Fogarty in a statement. "Our results reflect comparable store sales performance that was not on par with other retailers, and a disappointing level of earning power for our brands."

Regardless, today's earnings sent shares in the company up 3% to $3.70 in afternoon trading.

Rival Chico's also posted better-than-expected first-quarter earnings, as its turnaround efforts have apparently begun to reap benefits. Chico's saw only a 3.2% decline in same-store sales.