Victoria's Secret Parent L Brands Shares Fall After Company Cuts Full-year View

Shares of L Brands Inc. fell more than 7% late Wednesday after the parent of Victoria's Secret met Wall Street's quarterly sales expectations but cut its forecast for third-quarter and full-year earnings. L Brands said it earned $138.9 million, or 48 cents a share, in the second quarter, compared with $252.4 million, or 87 cents a share, a year ago. Adjusted for one-time items, the company said it earned 48 cents a share in the quarter, compared with 70 cents a share a year ago. Net sales fell to $2.8 billion in the quarter, from $2.9 billion a year ago. Analysts polled by FactSet had expected GAAP and adjusted earnings of 45 cents a share on sales of $2.8 billion. Comparable sales fell 8% for the quarter, in part due to Victoria's Secret's exiting the swim and apparel categories, the company said in a statement. "Accordingly, the company's guidance for the remainder of the year reflects a more conservative sales forecast than its previous guidance," L Brands said. The company updated its guidance for full-year 2017 per-share earnings to between $3 and $3.20, from a previous guidance of $3.10 a share to $3.40 a share, and guided third-quarter per-share earnings to between 25 cents a share and 30 cents a share. Shares ended the regular trading day up 1.3%.