Stage Stores posts 1 percent April same-store sales decline

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

Total sales for the month ended May 3 rose 3.8 percent to $106.5 million from $102.6 million in the prior-year period.

Stage Stores said same-store sales rose 20.3 percent in its cosmetics category and 4.8 percent and 2.2 percent in its children's, and footwear segments, respectively. Women's apparel performed below average for the month. Stage Stores said it generated same-store sales increases in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions of 8.0 percent and 3.1 percent, respectively, while the Southeast was the weakest performing region.

"Despite the currently challenging macroeconomic conditions, our comparable store sales during the first two weeks of April were strong, reflecting the beneficial impact of one additional open-for-business day vs. last years calendar, generally more favorable weather patterns, and easier comparisons to last year," said Jim Scarborough, chairman and chief executive. "Unfortunately, our sales softened during the final two weeks of the month, offsetting our first half gains and leading to an overall 1 percent comp decline for the month."

For the first quarter, the company said sales fell 1 percent to $353.5 million from $358.2 million last year, with same-store sales falling 5.4 percent compared with a year-ago increase of 0.1 percent. Stage Stores reiterated expectations for quarterly profit of 5 cents to 8 cents per share.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial expect profit of 7 cents per share on slightly higher revenue of $356.6 million.

The company, which operates 717 stores in 35 states under the Bealls, Palais Royal, Stage and Peebles names, plans to report its first-quarter results early on May 22.