Rue21, Inc. Announces Second Quarter Fiscal Year 2012 Financial Results

WARRENDALE, Pa., Aug. 23, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- rue21, inc. (Nasdaq:RUE) today announced its financial results for the second quarter ended July 28, 2012.

Second Quarter Highlights:

• Net sales increased 17% to $202.1 million from $172.8 million in the second quarter of fiscal 2011. Comparable store sales for the quarter were up 0.5%.  
• Gross margin improved to 39.4% of net sales compared to 39.1% in the second quarter of fiscal 2011.  
• Selling, general and administrative expenses were $57.8 million or 28.6% of net sales, compared to $48.9 million or 28.3% of net sales. Selling, general and administrative expenses included an incremental $1.8 million in stock compensation expenses in the quarter.  
• The Company opened 39 new stores compared to opening 34 stores in the second quarter of fiscal 2011.   
• Net income increased 18.5% to $9.1 million from $7.7 million.  
• The Company ended the quarter with cash and short term investments of $56.8 million.  
• Inventory at cost per square foot was down 2.8% as compared to the end of the second quarter of 2011.  
• Diluted earnings per share were $0.36 compared to diluted earnings per share of $0.31 in the second quarter of fiscal 2011.

Year-to-Date Fiscal 2012 Highlights:

• Net sales increased 17.9% to $407.7 million from $345.6 in the first half of 2011. Comparable store sales increased 1.1% following a 2.4% increase in the comparable period in 2011.   
• Gross margin improved to 39.1% of net sales from 39.0% in the first half of 2011.   
• Selling, general and administrative expenses were 27.4% of net sales compared to 27.3% in 2011.  
• The Company opened 79 new stores.   
• Net income increased 19.7% to $20.7 million from $17.3 million.

Bob Fisch, rue21's President and CEO, stated: "We continued to achieve consistent net income growth in the second quarter driven by our balanced product assortments, flexible real estate and sales growth strategies. We are on track to open 120 stores this year in new markets across the United States, and the stores we have opened in 2012 are achieving record performance in sales and profits. In addition to the strong results generated by the new stores, we expect the strategic initiatives put in place by our merchandising, planning, allocation and operations teams to generate solid comparable store sales in the back half of 2012. We have confidence in our ability to continue delivering profitable growth for the remainder of the year."

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