Recent Sales Slip for AnnTaylor, but It Expects to Beat Q3 Expectations

Women's clothing retailer

AnnTaylor

(ANN)

said that even though its October same-store sales were down 3.4%, it still expects third-quarter earnings to come in above estimates.

The company said it expects earnings of 78 cents a share, a penny better than the

First Call/Thomson Financial

16-analyst estimate. While same-store sales fell in October, total sales for the month jumped 9.1% and third-quarter net sales rose 12.3%.

AnnTaylor was lately gaining 11.9%.