UPDATE: Coach Shares Rise On Upbeat Earnings

Shares of

gained more than 4% in pre-market trading after the company posted better-than-expected earnings for the second quarter. The New York-based company posted a quarterly profit of $183.5 million, or $0.66 per share, versus a year-ago profit of $297.4 million, or $1.06 per share. Excluding items, the company earned $0.72 per share. Its sales declined 14% to $1.22 billion from $1.42 billion, while sales on a constant currency basis shrank 12%. Analysts were projecting earnings of $0.66 per share on revenue of $1.23 billion. Coach's North American sales shrank 20% to $785 million in the period, while international sales slipped 1% to $421 million. International sales on a constant currency basis gained 5%. The company's gross margin narrowed to 68.9% from 69.2%. Victor Luis, Chief Executive Officer of Coach, Inc., said, “Our second quarter results were in line with our expectations and our annual guidance on a constant currency basis, with the further strengthening of the dollar impacting reported results. We were pleased with the sequential improvement in our North American comparable store sales – notably in the bricks and mortar channel - and the growth of our international businesses.” Coach shares gained 4.17% to $37.99 in pre-market trading.