Abercrombie Shares Fall on Profit Warning

Abercrombie & Fitch Co. forecast fiscal third-quarter profit and sales that were lower than some analysts expected, sending its shares down 19%. The retailer of casual clothing said it expects to meet the 31-cent-a-share estimate of analysts polled by First Call Corp. Some forecasts ranged as high as 33 cents for Abercrombie, which has beaten earnings forecasts every quarter since it went public in September 1996. The Reynoldsburg, Ohio-based firm said sales at stores open at least a year--”same-store sales”--have risen 12% so far this quarter. That’s at the low end of some forecasts. The company said its October sales promotion wasn’t as successful as expected. Abercrombie said it broke a policy of releasing only quarterly same-store sales figures because of speculation about its sales numbers in recent weeks. Abercrombie will release its results Nov. 9. Its shares have lost about a third of their value between July 9, when they closed at $48.31, and Tuesday’s final price of $32.50. On Wednesday, the stock fell $6.19 to close at $26.31 on the NYSE, after falling as low as $23.38 earlier in the day.