Sales fall again at Gap

Like-for-like sales at Gap fell 11 per cent in February as customer traffic declined at double the rate forecast by US analysts. The company said Gap International like-for-like sales fell 14 per cent. Total sales for the four weeks ended February 25 fell 6 per cent to US$865 million (£494.7 million).

On February 23, Gap posted an 11 per cent drop in fourth-quarter sales and gave a cautious full-year forecast that was below Wall Street expectations. At that time, the retailer said it expected like-for-like store sales to remain negative in the first half and turn modestly positive in the second half of the year.

'Overall February sales results were disappointing,' said senior vice-president of treasury and investor relations Sabrina Simmons. She said traffic was worse in February than in the fourth quarter, leading to slower sales and significantly lower margins.

In the US, like-for-like sales fell 7 per cent at Gap, 11 per cent at Banana Republic and 14 per cent at Old Navy.