Guess Jumps On Q1 Beat

Shares of apparel retailer Guess GES are higher in Tuesday's after-hours session after the company reported a fiscal first-quarter profit of $26.6 million, or 30 cents a share, compared $42.7 million, or 46 cents a share, a year earlier. Revenue fell 2% to $579 million. Analysts expected a profit of 26 cents a share on $569.8 million. Guess forecast a fiscal second-quarter profit of 48-52 cents per share. "We continued to focus our efforts on growing in newer international markets, and we succeeded, expanding in key markets such as China, Germany and Russia. While we did face economic headwinds in southern Europe, our brand remains strong there and our business is stable. Our global licensing business outperformed expectations, even as our licensees encountered many of those same economic challenges," Guess CEO Paul Marciano said in a statement. Guess' retail stores in North America generated revenue of $251.8 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2013, a 1.8% increase from $247.5 million in the same period a year ago. Comparable store sales decreased 5.5% in U.S. dollars and 5.1% in local currency for the first quarter of fiscal 2013, compared to the same period a year ago, according to the statement.