August 10, 2007	Friday	Rajab 25, 1428

2NEW YORK, Aug 9: US apparel chains posted dismal July sales results on Thursday and several lowered their second-quarter earnings forecasts, citing sluggish store traffic and slimmer margins due to promotions.

Teen apparel retailers such as American Eagle Outfitters Inc., Pacific Sunwear of California Inc. and Aeropostale Inc. fared especially poorly, casting a cautious air on the outlook for the back-to-school season, the biggest shopping time after the year-end holidays.

According to Ken Perkins, an analyst at Retail Metrics, specialty apparel retailers on average posted a 1.4 per cent decline in July sales at stores open a least a year, while those catering to teens, which had been expected to rise slightly, posted an average decline of 4.8 per cent -- missing previously lowered expectations by 5.2 percentage points.

“These very weak results are the result of some calendar shifts as well as later back-to-school starts, but the extent of the weakness may cause some concern about the back-to-school selling season which lies before us,” Perkins said in a research note.

Pacific Sunwear, which sells surfing-inspired clothing through its PacSun chain, said July same-store sales fell 4.6 per cent, far worse than analysts’ expectations for a 3.6 per cent increase. The weak results forced the company to forecast a net loss for the second quarter.—Reuters