CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — The Cato Corp. said Thursday that revenue at stores open at least a year fell 10 percent in June, driven by bad weather and continued economic uncertainty.
That was well below what Wall Street expected. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters forecast flat revenue at stores open at least a year. The metric is an important one for retailers because it excludes the potential boost from newly opened stores.
Aside from May's results, boosted by a comparison to weakness last year, Cato's revenue from stores open more than a year sales have fallen every month since last April.
Total sales during the five weeks ended June 30 were down 7 percent to $83.7 million from the comparable period a year ago.
Cato expects skittish consumers to hurt results for the rest of the year. It now expects to hit the low end of its previous earnings outlook in the second quarter, between 53 to 57 cents per share. That's 7 to 13 percent lower than the second quarter of last year.
Cato operates clothing and accessories stores under the Cato, Versona and It's Fashion names.
In afternoon trading, Cato shares fell $3.33, or 10.5 percent, to $28.38. The stock has traded between $21.61 and $32.32 in the past 52 weeks.
