Kenneth Cole Falls To 1Q Loss

NEW YORK (AP) — Shoe maker Kenneth Cole Productions Inc. reported a fiscal first-quarter loss Tuesday, as the sharp cutback in consumer spending and inventory cutbacks by wholesalers dragged down sales.

The company reported a loss of $8.1 million, or 46 cents per share. That was down significantly from the $807,000, or 4 cents per share, it earned during the year-ago quarter. Stripping out one-time items such as restructuring costs, it posted a 41-cent per share loss.

Revenue fell 16 percent to $103.4 million. Results were lower across the company's divisions, and included a 20 percent drop in same-store sales.

Same-store sales, or sales at stores open at least a year, are a key measure of retailer performance, because they measure growth at existing stores rather than from newly opened ones.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected a quarterly loss of 42 cents per share.

Shares of Kenneth Cole rose 68 cents, or 8.4 percent, to close at $8.77 Tuesday, before the company released its quarterly results.