Kenneth Cole Productions Inc. said Monday that it narrowed its fourth-quarter loss, due mainly to its decision to ramp up its plan to close underperforming stores.
The New York-based vendor recorded a net loss of $2.7 million, or 15 cents a diluted share, for the period ended Dec. 31, versus a year-ago loss of $52 million, or $2.88 a share. Net revenue increased 10.5 percent to $120.8 million, from $109.4 million in the year-ago quarter. Analysts were looking for EPS of 31 cents on revenue of $120.7 million, according to Yahoo.
“We believe that our business is now positioned to take advantage of significant untapped opportunities for growth,” said chief financial officer David Edelman. “We have closed our underperforming stores, put new leadership in place and, once the near-term impact of our decision to close underperforming stores is behind us, we expect to see a financial benefit that far outweighs these short-term costs.”
Early Monday the company said its chief executive officer Jill Granoff had resigned. Kenneth Cole, chairman, founder and chief creative officer, will take the reins as interim ceo.
For complete coverage, see Tuesday’s WWD.