Abercrombie doubles 3Q profit on lower costs

Abercrombie & Fitch more than doubled its third-quarter profit as it cut costs, topping almost all expectations across the board. Shares of Abercrombie & Fitch Co. soared 24 percent in early trading.

The company reported a profit Wednesday of $23.9 million, or 35 cents per share. Earnings, adjusted for non-recurring gains, came to 33 cents per share, blowing past Wall Street expectations of 18 cents per share, according to a survey by Zacks Investment Research.

Revenue rose less than 1 percent to $861.2 million, also beating forecasts.

Same-store sales, a key measure of a retailer's health, were 3 percent, compared with 4 percent a year ago. But, they still topped expectations for a 1.5 percent boost, according to FactSet.

The company also named Kristin Scott president of Global Brands. She previously worked as brand president of Hollister Co.

Neil Saunders, managing director of GlobalData Retail, said the results show that the company's recovery plan is on track and that changes made in detailing and styling have made the range of products more sophisticated.

"Overall, the recovery at Abercrombie & Fitch is still a work in progress," he said. "However, turning around a once very troubled brand is far from easy. Progress and advancement do not all come at once; this is a step-by-step process that will build over time. We are satisfied that management is on the right road to recovery.

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Elements of this story were generated by Automated Insights using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on ANF at https://www.zacks.com/ap/ANF