Zale Surges on Earnings Beat, Reported Bid
DALLAS, Texas (
) --
Zale
(ZLC)
shares were higher in premarket trading Wednesday after reporting second-quarter earnings that beat consensus and on reports a private-equity firm may purchase a stake in the jeweler.
Zale shares rose 3.1% at $2.60 in premarket trading, and continued those gains during the early morning trading session, rising 7.2% to $2.75 by mid-morning.
Zale reported second-quarter earnings of $6.7 million, or 21 cents a share, compared with a year-earlier loss of $31.8 million, or $1 a share. Wall Street forecast earnings of 2 cents a share on revenue of $587.04 million.
Zale said its latest quarter had an income tax benefit of $12 million, compared with a tax expense of $7 million in the comparable period in the prior year.
Total revenue was $582 million, a 14.3% decrease from $679 million a year ago. Zale reported same-store sales during the quarter fell 11.2%.
Zale closed 187 retail locations since the end of January 2009, of which 28 were closed in the quarter.
Zale ended Tuesday's trading session up 27.4% at $2.60. The stock surged after
the Wall Street Journal
reported that private-equity firm
Apollo Management expressed interest in buying a stake in Zale.
On Wednesday, Zale said its board formed a committee of independent directors to review a "wide range of financing alternatives" and the board is at the initial stages of the process.
-- Reported by Andrea Tse in New York
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