Women's apparel retailer Chico's FAS Inc. said Thursday its same-store sales slid 15.5 percent in April, missing Wall Street's expectations.
Analysts polled by Thomson Financial predicted a same-store sales decline of 12 percent.
Same-store sales, or sales at stores open at least a year, is a key indicator of retailer performance since it measures growth at existing stores rather than newly opened ones.
The company said a shift in the timing of the Easter holiday helped April same-store sales by about 2 percent to 2.5 percent.
Total monthly sales dropped 4.5 percent to $142 million from $148.7 million a year earlier.
Same-store sales for the 13 weeks ended May 3 fell 17.5 percent, while total sales slipped 9.6 percent to $409.6 million.
Chico's runs 611 Chico's front-line stores, 38 Chico's outlet stores, 318 White House Black Market front-line stores, 19 White House Black Market outlet stores, 70 Soma Intimates front-line stores and 1 Soma Intimates outlet store.
Shares of Chico's FAS fell 13 cents to $6.73 in electronic premarket trading. The stock closed at $6.86 on Wednesday.
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