(Filed Under Financial and General Interest News). Liz Claiborne, Inc. has announced second quarter results citing a decrease in net sales to $683.8 million from $963.4 million in 2008 and a decrease in comparable store sales for each of its brands, including Juicy Couture, Lucky Brand, Kate Spade and Mexx. The company also announced a $100 million cost-cutting program, which will impact all segments in addition to corporate areas, focusing primarily on further consolidation of support and production staff at the brand level, and store closures of the Mexx business.

The store closures and cuts are expected to be complete by the end of the year, resulting in a total impact of $100 million in 2010. This plan is on top of the $70 million program the company executed in the first quarter of this year.

“Our financial results in the second quarter reflect the continuing challenges of turning around under performing business in the current recessionary environment as consumer spending and mall traffic, although not deteriorating further, remained at depressed levels compared to last year,” said William McCob, CEO of Liz Claiborne, Inc. “Consistent with the outlook we provided on our May call, we posted comparable store sales decreases of 17 percent at Juicy Couture, 23 percent at Lucky Brand, 14 percent at Kate Spade and 12 percent at Mexx.”

Net sales for Juicy Couture were $110 million, a 25.3 percent decrease compared to the second quarter of fiscal 2008. Lucky Brand saw an 8.8 percent decrease in net sales compared to 2008 to $107 million. Net sales for Kate Spade were $33 million, a 12.1 percent increase, which the company attributed to increases in outlet, reflecting an increased number of stores.

For further information, call Robert Vill, vice president, finance and treasurer, at (201) 295-7515.

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Published 08-12-2009 by Bruna Fernandes