Pacific Sunwear Profit Falls 33%

Pacific Sunwear of California Inc., a mall-based retailer of casual clothing, on Thursday said first-quarter profit slid 33% as rising costs outpaced revenue growth.

Net income declined to $11.9 million, or 16 cents a share, from $17.6 million, or 23 cents, a year earlier. Revenue rose 7% to $299.9 million, while costs jumped 14% to $80 million.

The results met Wall Street forecasts, according to a Thomson Financial poll of analysts.

Same-store sales, a key gauge of a retailer’s performance, fell 1.8%. Same-store sales measure sales at stores open at least a year.

For the second quarter, Pacific Sunwear sees same-store sales growing in the low to mid-single digits. The company reaffirmed its forecast for profit of 26 cents to 28 cents a share, compared with analysts’ target of 28 cents a share.

Shares of Anaheim-based Pacific Sunwear fell 46 cents to $24.11, then regained 24 cents in after-hours trading.