Abercrombie & Fitch's Hollister posted its first quarterly comparable sales rise in a year, suggesting the US retailer's efforts to turn around its biggest brand were paying off.
The company has been remodeling Hollister stores.
It has hired designers and executives to help it keep up with the latest in teen fashion to woo back shoppers lost to online retailers as well as "fast fashion" brands such as Inditex's Zara.
Abercrombie also forecast overall comparable sales to improve in the year ending January 2018, with Hollister expected to maintain or improve sales and the Abercrombie brand expected to improve.
Hollister, which makes up about 57% of Abercrombie's net sales, reported a surprise 1% rise in comparable sales, compared with the 0.7% decline predicted by analysts.
However, weak traffic at Abercrombie's flagship and tourist locations drove a decline in overall comparable sales, which fell 5% in the fourth quarter ended January 28.
The company also said it closed 54 stores in 2016, mainly in the US, and that it would shut 60 stores this year.
Net income attributable to Abercrombie & Fitch fell to $48.8m, or 71 cents per share, in the fourth quarter, from $57.7m, or 85 cents per share.
Excluding one-time items, the company earned 75 cents per share, in line with analyst's average estimate, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
The retailer's net sales fell about 7% to $1.04 billion, slightly missing analysts' average expectation of $1.05 billion.
