Polo Ralph Lauren Quarterly Profit Falls

Net income was $35.4 million, or 35 cents per share, for the fiscal third quarter ended Dec. 27, down from $42.8 million, or 43 cents per share, a year earlier.

The company took a $15.9 million restructuring charge in the quarter, largely to adjust the reserve for lease termination costs at two Club Monaco retail properties, which were included in the company's 2001 operating plan.

Excluding restructuring charges and foreign currency gains and losses from certain transactions, profit was 47 cents per share in the latest quarter, matching year-ago results and the average estimate among analysts polled by Reuters Research, a unit of Reuters Group Plc.

In November, Polo forecast third-quarter earnings in a range of 44 cents to 49 cents per share.

The New York-based company, whose labels include several variations of Polo and Ralph Lauren, said revenue rose 1 percent to $645.5 million.

The company also backed its fourth-quarter forecast of adjusted earnings per share in a range of 75 cents to 80 cents a share.

That outlook excludes foreign currency gains and losses from some balance sheet transactions. But it includes about a 4-cents-a-share loss associated with the spring relaunch of "Lauren by Ralph Lauren," a line to which it reacquired the rights last summer and the loss of licensing revenue from Lauren and other lines.

In fiscal 2005, earnings per share are expected to be in the range of $2.35 to $2.45, excluding any foreign currency gains and losses resulting from certain balance sheet transactions, the company said.