American Apparel’s Q2 net sales grow by 13 percent

American Apparel announced its financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2012. The company reported a double digit comparable store sales growth each month since November of 2011.

Comparing the second quarter 2012 to the corresponding period last year, net sales increased 13 percent to 149.5 million dollars on a 14 percent increase in comparable store sales in the retail business, a 10 percent increase in net sales in the wholesale business and a 2 percent decrease in the average number of stores.

Gross profit of 79 million dollars for the second quarter of 2012 increased 9 percent from the 72.4 million dollars reported for the second quarter of 2011. Gross margin rate for the 2012 second quarter decreased to 53 percent from 55 percent for the 2011 second quarter.

Net loss for the second quarter of 2012 was 15.3 million dollars, or 0.14 dollars per common share, compared to net loss for the second quarter of 2011 of 0.2 million dollars. As of August 1, 2012 there were approximately 106.2 million shares outstanding. Consolidated Adjusted EBITDA was 7.6 million dollars in the second quarter of 2012 versus 3.7 million dollars in last year's second quarter.

The second quarter 2012 net loss included an income tax provision of 1.1 million dollars versus 0.5 million dollars in the 2011 second quarter. As of June 30, 2012, the company has available Federal net operating carry forwards of approximately 75.7 million dollars and unused Federal and State tax credits of 16.2 million dollars.

For the month of August, the company expects that comparable store sales will increase in the upper teen to low twenty percent range and it estimates the percent increase in net sales will be in the 10 percent to 15 percent range versus the prior year. Accordingly, the company is raising its adjusted EBITDA guidance for 2012 to between 36 dollars to 44 million dollars from the prior estimate of 32 dollars to 40 million dollars.

American Apparel is a vertically integrated manufacturer, distributor, and retailer of fashion basic apparel based in downtown Los Angeles, California. As of July 31, 2012,American Apparel operated 251 retail stores in 20 countries, including the United States, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, United Kingdom, Ireland, Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Israel, Australia,Japan, South Korea, and China. American Apparel also operates a wholesale business that supplies high quality T-shirts and other casual wear to distributors and screen printers. In addition to its retail stores and wholesale operations, American Apparel operates an online retail e-commerce website.