Liz Claiborne, Inc. (LIZ)

[MiamiGent]

LIZ Liz Claiborne 1Q Loss Narrows As Sales, Margins Improve
PROVIDED BY Dow Jones & Company, Inc. - 8:35 AM 04/26/2012

http://stockcharts.com/h-sc/ui?s=LIZ

--First-quarter loss narrows

--Two of three main brands do well

--Significantly reduces debt

By Karen Talley and Melodie Warner

Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--Liz Claiborne Inc.'s (LIZ) first-quarter loss narrowed as Lucky Brand and Kate Spade helped drive the apparel maker's better-than- expected sales growth. But Liz Claiborne's (LIZ) third main brand, Juicy Couture, still struggled.

With only a handful of brands after selling off many units, the performance of each remaining business is critical to the company's overall success. While Lucky Brand and Kate Spade sales increased 20% and 46%, respectively, Juicy Couture sales fell 4.4%.

Investors liked the overall results, which included a big paydown of debt, and lifted shares 4.8% to $13.29 premarket.

The company, founded by Liz Claiborne (LIZ) in 1976, plans to change its name to Fifth & Pacific Cos. (FNP) in May as it moves past the iconic brand and focuses on Juicy, Kate and Lucky.

Despite Juicy's sales decline, Chief Executive Bill McComb said he was " encouraged by the prospects for these three brands as they execute their growth strategies."

Liz Claiborne (LIZ) sold its namesake, Monet and Kensie fashion brands to department store operator J.C. Penney Co. (JCP) and sold the Dana Buchman brand to Kohl's Corp. (KSS). The Kensie brand went to Bluestar Alliance, a financial services and brand management company.

Last month, Standard & Poor's Ratings Services upgraded Liz Claiborne's (LIZ) credit junk-level rating, saying the recent asset sales helped to reduce debt and it expects the company's profitability and cash flow generation to improve.

Liz Claiborne (LIZ) reported a loss of $60.6 million, or 60 cents a share, compared with a loss of $96.3 million, or $1.02 a share, a year earlier. Adjusted loss from continuing operations narrowed to 22 cents from 32 cents. Sales dropped 4.1% to $317.1 million.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had most recently forecast a loss of 14 cents a share on revenue of $307 million.

Gross margin rose to 56.5% from 53.3%.

The company said it ended the quarter with net debt of $317 million, a decrease of $381 million compared with a year ago.


(END) Dow Jones Newswires
04-26-12 0835ET