Clifton, NJ, October 21--Home furnishings retailer Linens N Things Inc said third-quarter earnings fell 18 percent, hurt by a decline in guest traffic and an accounting charge.
Quarterly earnings were $17.2 million, or 38 cents a share, down from $21 million, or 47 cents a share, last year. The latest period includes a charge of $2.3 million, or 5 cents a share, to reflect a change in accounting for vendor allowances. Analysts surveyed by Thomson First Call estimated the company would post third-quarter earnings of 38 cents a share.
Sales rose 8.5 percent to $654.2 million from $602.8 million a year ago. Same-store sales for the quarter fell 0.5 percent. The company said it has intensified its marketing and merchandising efforts to drive fourth-quarter traffic, and targets same-store sales growth in the low-single-digit range for the period.
Linens N Things is comfortable with the range of analyst fourth-quarter earnings estimates of 99 cents to $1.02 a share, and expects the accounting change to hurt fourth-quarter earnings by 3 cents a share. A survey of analysts by Thomson First Call put the mean analyst estimate at $1 a share.
