Limited Brands Tops Forecasts

Article Excerpt

LIMITED BRANDS INC. $19 (New York symbol LTD; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 340.7 million; Market cap: $6.5 billion; WSSF Rating: Average) reported higher-than-expected earnings for its first fiscal quarter ended May 3, 2008. If you exclude a gain from the sale of its interest in a joint venture and other one-time items, it earned $0.11 a share in the quarter, or 37.5% better than consensus forecasts of $0.08. Limited earned $0.13 a share in the year-earlier quarter. Total sales in the quarter fell 17.4%, to $1.9 billion from $2.3 billion, mostly due to last year’s sale of majority stakes in the Limited and Express clothing stores. However, plans to expand its Victoria’s Secret lingerie chain internationally should boost sales. Limited Brands is a buy. buy…