Maidenform shares drop after 2Q profit drop

Shares of Maidenform fell 71 cents, or 4.9 percent, to $13.80 in midday trading Wednesday. They have traded in a range of $11.03 to $18.48 over the past year.

Maidenform said its second-quarter profit fell nearly 18 percent as sales dropped 9 percent to $108.1 million.

It suspended its previous guidance that sales would grow 4 percent for the year, instead saying it expected sales growth ranging from a drop of 1 percent to a gain of 1 percent. Maidenform said that was assuming net sales would grow between 8 percent and 12 percent in the third and fourth quarters.

It also suspended its previous prediction that it would earn $1.46 a share, excluding a drop of 6 cents a share associated with starting lines related to its license under the Donna Karan and DKNY brands.

Maidenform now expects earnings per share to fall in a range of between $1.28 and $1.36 for the year, excluding the 6 cents per share costs.

Analysts had been predicting earnings per share of $1.39, according to a poll by Thomson Financial.

Eric Beder, an analyst with Brean Murray, Carret & Co., said he lowered his earnings per share projection to $1.21 from $1.34 based on the updated guidance. He said in a research note Maidenform is a key innovator in intimate apparel and in a healthy economy, that would drive growth. But, he wrote, "it is crystal clear that we are not in ordinary times."