Build-A-Bear Reports Narrower-Than-Expected Loss

   By Ezequiel Minaya 
 

Build-a-Bear Workshop Inc. reported losses on Thursday for its latest quarter, hurt by currency headwinds, though results were better than expected.

License products had powered sales growth recently, representing a turnaround from a string of disappointing quarters as the company's novelty faded. Build-a-Bear allows customers to build their own stuffed animals.

The company got a boost from products linked to the popular Walt Disney Co. animated movie "Frozen" and the "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" franchise. The company also has sought to renew its focus on high-traffic tourist markets.

On Thursday, the company reported a loss of $628,000, or four cents a share, for the latest quarter, narrower than its loss of $4.3 million, or 25 cents per share, a year earlier. Excluding certain items, per-share losses narrowed to five cents from 24 cents a year ago.

Revenue grew 6.3% to $81 million, offset by a hit of $1.6 million linked to foreign-exchange volatility.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters had expected a per-share loss of 17 cents on revenue of $76 million.

For the quarter, Build-A-Bear said its same-store sales grew 8.7%, including a 6.5% increase in North America and a 18.2% increase in Europe.

During the second quarter ended in July, the company also repurchased about 373,000 shares for $6.2 million, leaving around $800,000 available under the $10 million share-repurchase program it had adopted in February.

Write to Ezequiel Minaya at [e-mail]

Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires