Restoration Hardware Slips During 1st Quarter

Consumers are shopping like mad but apparently not at Restoration Hardware Inc., which on Wednesday reported a first-quarter loss and said same-store sales fell 14.4% from the year-ago period.

For its first quarter ended April 29, the Corte Madera, Calif.-based home furnishings retailer reported a net loss of $4.3 million, or 25 cents per share, beating analysts’ expectations by a penny, compared with a net loss of $2.7 million, or 16 cents, in the year-ago quarter.

Total first-quarter sales increased 14.3% to $68.6 million from $60 million. Analysts had expected the company to report a loss of 26 cents a share, according to First Call/Thomson Financial, which tracks estimates.

Same-store sales, a key retail indicator measuring sales at stores open at least a year, fell 14.4% in the quarter compared with the year-ago period, the company said. In last year’s first quarter, Restoration Hardware saw same-store sales increase by 18.4%.

Restoration shares rose 38 cents to close at $6.13 on Nasdaq.

At a Glance

* Ross Stores Inc., a Newark, Calif.-based retailer of low-price clothing and accessories, said its fiscal first-quarter profit rose 20% because sales increased and the company kept a lid on costs.

Net income increased to $40.8 million, or 47 cents a share, from $34.2 million, or 37 cents, a year earlier. Sales rose 15% in the quarter ended April 29, to $633.4 million from $550.8 million.