Aeropostale Plans to Review Strategic and Financial Alternatives After Weak Earnings
The Aeropostale board of directors has authorized the "review of strategic and financial alternatives," meaning a sale or restructuring of the company.
When Aeropostale Inc. (NYSE: ARO) reported its most recent quarterly results, they were a disaster. In fact things have gotten to the point where the board of directors has authorized the “review of strategic and financial alternatives,” meaning a sale or restructuring of the company.
For the fourth-quarter, the company reported a net loss per share of $0.14 and $489 million in revenue. That compared to consensus estimates of a net loss of $0.14 per share on $519.69 million in revenue. In the same period of the previous year, the retailer posted $0.01 in earnings per share on revenue of $593.76 million.
According to the report, the board of directors has authorized management to explore a full range of strategic and financial alternatives. Additionally, the company retained Stifel and other advisors to assist in a review of alternatives.
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At the moment, there is no set timetable for the strategic review process. Aeropostale said that there can be no assurance that this process will result in any specific action. The company does not expect to comment further or update the market with any further information on the process unless and until the board has approved a specific action or it otherwise concludes its review of strategic alternatives.
Julian Geiger, CEO of Aeropostale, commented:
The business trend has improved significantly since we introduced our spring merchandise assortments and launched our factory store initiative. Under normal conditions, we would be very optimistic about our potential for financial growth throughout the first half of 2016. Regrettably, our short-term visibility is limited by our current vendor dispute.
Shares of Aeropostale traded down over 50% at $0.23 early Friday, with a consensus analyst price target of $0.76 and a 52-week trading range of $0.16 to $3.64.
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Chris Lange is a financial and geopolitical writer with more than a decade of experience covering a myriad of topics. He has published thousands of articles for 24/7 Wall St., with past coverage focused heavily on stocks, IPOs, healthcare, defense, global affairs, and technology.
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