Coldwater Creek Inc. (NASDAQ:CWTR)

"We are pleased with the improvement in our first quarter results, which began to benefit from the steps we are taking to reposition the company for profitable growth," stated Dennis Pence, President and Chief Executive Officer of Coldwater Creek.  "During the quarter, our realigned price points and improved sale strategy led to increases in average unit retail and merchandise margin. In addition, we experienced strong sales growth in our Ecommerce business as a result of favorable customer response to our website enhancements. This, combined with our continued focus on expense controls, contributed to a meaningful expansion in our operating margin during the quarter."  

"As we look ahead, we plan to build upon the strategies that led to our improved first quarter results; however, we remain intently focused on aligning our inventory with our expected sales trends," Mr. Pence continued. "As planned, during the second quarter, we will aggressively work to reduce our inventory levels, which will pressure realized margins. In addition, we remain cautious as the early response to our summer collection has been softer than expected and will likely put additional pressure on our second quarter margins. However, we continue to believe we are on track to achieve our original earnings expectations for the year."   

Outlook

The Company expects to report a loss in the second quarter of fiscal 2010; however, it expects an improvement over the $0.05 loss per share in the second quarter of fiscal 2009. This assumes a mid-single digit year-over-year percentage increase in total net sales.  For fiscal 2010, the company continues to expect that it will report earnings per share of between $0.08 and $0.12, with the majority of the earnings growth coming in the second half of the year. This compares to a fiscal 2009 loss per share of $0.61, which included charges of approximately $0.33 per share related to the income tax valuation allowance, separation agreement expenses, and non-cash asset impairment charges.