Retailer Children's Place soars as lower expenses boost Q2 profit

Children's Place

11/09/2024 15:29

(Updates)
    ** Shares of apparel retailer Children's Place  PLCE.O 
soars as much as 71.6% to a more than 1-month high of $8.40 in
early trading
    ** Stock pares gains, last up 52%, but set for its best day
since Feb. 15, if gains hold
    ** Company posts Q2 adj. profit of 30 cents vs $2.12 loss a
year ago
    ** Reports gross margin rise of 960 basis points to 35%,
owing to lower expenses from reduced costs of cotton and supply
chain 
    ** PLCE's Q2 comparable retail sales decline 7.2%, hurt by
decrease in e-commerce revenue
    ** While we anticipated that efforts to reduce excess costs
would pressure sales, we drove significant improvements in gross
profit margin, interim CEO Muhammad Umair says
    ** As of last close, stock is down nearly 80% YTD
 

 (Reporting by Savyata Mishra and Neil J Kanatt in Bengaluru)
 ((Savyata.Mishra@thomsonreuters.com))