Wet Seal Swings to 4th-Quarter Profit

The company reported earnings for the period ended Feb. 2 of $12.2 million, or 13 cents per share, compared with a loss of $5.7 million, or 7 cents per share, in the previous year.

Analysts polled by Thomson Financial expected a profit of 10 cents per share, on average.

Year-ago results, which included an extra week, were hurt by a $10.2 million interest expense.

Quarterly sales grew 8 percent to $179.6 million from $166.4 million to top Wall Street's estimate of $174.3 million.

Consolidated same-store sales dipped 1.4 percent.

Same-store sales, or sales at stores open at least a year, is a key indicator of retailer performance since it measures growth at existing stores rather than newly opened ones.

Wet Seal swung to an annual profit of $23.2 million, or 23 cents per share, from a loss of $12.8 million, or 18 cents per share, a year earlier.

Full-year revenue climbed 8 percent to $611.2 million from $564.3 million.

Wet Seal operated 494 stores in 47 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico as of March 1.