Urban Outfitters Warns of Weak Sales, Shares Fall

Urban Outfitters Inc.'s stock fell Thursday as the retailer reported a key sales metric was down so far in the current quarter.

The Philadelphia-based retailer said in a regulatory filing Thursday that comparable retail sales for the current second quarter that began May 1 had fallen by a percentage in the mid single-digit range. Urban Outfitters defines comparable retail sales as online sales plus sales at stores open for at least 12 months.

Analysts have projected comparable sales to increase 1.1% in the second quarter, according to Retail Metrics. The company reported comparable sales rose 4% in the year-ago second quarter and 1% in the first quarter.

Shares of Urban Outfitters, off 23% over the past 12 months, declined 8% to $25.74 in after-hours trading.

The Philadelphia-based retailer, which opened its first store in 1970 near the University of Pennsylvania campus, has expanded into a multinational clothing company with more than $3 billion in sales a year under the brands of Urban Outfitters, Free People, Anthropologie, BHLDN and Terrain.

Urban Outfitters didn't break down the decline by brand, but sales at its two largest brands—Urban Outfitters and Anthropologie Group, which also includes BHLDN and Terrain—had slowed in recent quarters, and the retailer has reported lower profit on a year-over-year basis in seven of the past nine quarters.

Write to Maria Armental at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

June 09, 2016 17:55 ET (21:55 GMT)

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