Foothill Ranch-based clothing retailer Wet Seal Inc. said sales last month fell in line with Wall Street expectations and upped its profit forecast for three months through January.
Wet Seal, which runs clothing stores for teen girls and young women, said January sales at stores open at least a year fell 3.7% from a year earlier.
Analysts had projected a 3.8% same-store sales decline.
Wet Seal’s total revenue fell 2.5% to $30.9 million for the month.
The company runs 500 stores made up of 420 Wet Seal stores for teen girls and 80 Arden B. stores for young women.
Wet Seal raised its profit forecast for the recently ended quarter after last month telling investors it expected them to be at the high end of its expectations.
The company now forecasts a profit of $7.7 million to $8.64 million.
Analysts had been projecting a profit of $6.7 million on average.
“We generated better than expected merchandise margins at both divisions through careful inventory and promotions management and maintained strong discipline over costs throughout the quarter, which led to our improved expectations,” Chief Executive Ed Thomas said.
The company’s quarterly results are due in coming weeks.
