SANDPOINT, Idaho (Dow Jones/AP) — Coldwater Creek Inc., which sells women's clothing and accessories, Wednesday said its profit leaped in the latest quarter, helped by a shift from catalogs to retail stores.
The Sandpoint-based company reported net income of $5.46 million, or 22 cents a share, for the fiscal first quarter ended May 1. That compares with the previous year's earnings of $1.91 million, or 8 cents a share, in the same period.
Analysts surveyed by Thomson First Call had forecast, on average, earnings of 10 cents a share, and Coldwater Creek's own first-quarter projection from March was for earnings of 9 cents to 10 cents a share.
Shares of Coldwater Creek closed Wednesday at $21.49, up $1.54, or 7.7 percent, on the Nasdaq Stock Market.
Sales rose about 8.1 percent to $124.5 million from $115.2 million.
"Our retail store performance increased our ability to leverage store occupancy costs, which, coupled with improved merchandise margins, delivered the higher net income," said Coldwater Creek chairman and chief executive Dennis Pence in a release.