Limited's Earnings Get a Boost From Investment Gain

Comps declined, but the retailer was helped by selling its share in Alliance Data, and it affirmed its outlook.
By Troy Wolverton ,

An investment gain helped

Limited Brands

(LTD)

overcome decliningcomparable-store sales and nearly double its first-quarter earnings, theapparel dealer reported on Monday.

In its quarter ended May 3, Limited earned $97.5 million, or 19cents a share; the company earned $49.8 million, or 9 cents a share, inthe year-ago period.

Overall sales at Limited increased 2% over the same period lastyear to $1.84 billion, but its same-store sales, which compare resultsat outlets open for more than one year, declined 1% in thequarter.

On the company's bottom line, those slow sales were outweighed by a$79.7 million gain related to a sale of about half of its interest in

Alliance Data Systems

(ADS) - Get Report

, which provides credit and marketing services.Excluding that gain and the taxes related to it, Limited would haveearned $49.8 million, or 9 cents a share. Setting aside extraordinarygains and losses in the year-ago period, the retailer would have earned$76.9 million, or 14 cents a share.

On this basis, analysts were expecting Limited to earn 8 cents ashare on $1.82 billion in sales, according to Thomson First Call.

The company said it is "comfortable" with Thomson First Call projectionsthat it will earn 16 cents a share in its second quarter. Limitedexpects its full-year earnings to come in between 99 cents and $1.04 ashare, compared with a 99 cents a share profit in fiscal year 2002.

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