Charming Shoppes posts a loss

Shares of Charming Shoppes Inc., the Bensalem owner of the Lane Bryant and Fashion Bug clothing chains, fell yesterday after the retailer forecast first-quarter sales that trailed analysts' estimates.

Charming Shoppes declined 66 cents, or 12.43 percent, to $4.65 in Nasdaq Stock Market trading for the biggest drop since Feb. 4. Shares of the retailer, which also reported a loss for its fourth quarter yesterday, have fallen 14 percent this year.

The company forecast sales for the quarter ending May 3 of $720 million to $730 million. Soleil Securities Group Inc. analyst Jeffery Stein estimated sales of $780.6 million. Charming Shoppes projected a per-share loss of 6 to 8 cents for the quarter, including costs of 2 cents per share related to moving some operations to Bensalem from Memphis.

"Difficult retail apparel trends" that hurt the company in the fourth quarter will last through the first half, chief executive officer Dorrit J. Bern said in the statement.

Charming Shoppes posted a loss of $127.6 million for the fourth quarter as sales fell. That compared with net income of $24.9 million, or 19 cents a share, a year earlier, according to the statement. Sales for the three months ended Feb. 2 fell 10 percent to $784.9 million.

It was the company's second consecutive quarterly loss after 19 profitable quarters, according to Bloomberg data. Sales at stores open at least 12 months, a key measure of a retailer's strength, fell 9 percent at Lane Bryant stores and 8 percent at Fashion Bug in the fourth quarter, Charming Shoppes said.