Francesca's results miss estimates on low traffic, shares fall

Women's clothing retailer Francesca's Holdings Corp reported second-quarter results that missed analysts' estimates, hurt by lower traffic, and said it expects this weakness to continue.

Francesca's shares fell 18 percent to $19.72 in premarket trading.

The company forecast a profit of 19-21 cents per share for the third quarter.

Analysts on average were expecting a profit of 30 cents per share, according to Thomson Reuters estimations.

Francesca's also forecast current-quarter sales of $78 million-$80 million — below market estimates of $89.7 million — and said it expects comparable sales to decline by 2-5 percent.

Net income rose to $14.6 million, or 33 cents per share, in the quarter ended August 3 from $12.7 million, or 28 cents per share, a year earlier. Net sales rose 17 percent to $89.6 million.

Analysts had expected a profit of 35 cents per share on revenue of $94.5 million.

Comparable sales in the second quarter declined 1 percent.

Francesca's shares were trading at $20.15 in premarket trading. They had closed at $24.02 on the Nasdaq on Tuesday.