Abercrombie 4th-quarter comparable sales decline

Feb 22 (Reuters) - Abercrombie & Fitch Co reported a drop in fourth-quarter comparable sales on Friday as the youth fashion retailer continued to struggle overseas and its Hollister chain showed weakness during the holiday period.

Sales rose 10.5 percent to $1.47 billion for the 14 weeks ended Feb. 2, led by a 34 percent rise in international sales. But that includes an extra week compared to year earlier.

On a comparable basis, which considers sales at stores open at least a year and online and the extra week, sales fell 1 percent. They were flat for the namesake chain and fell 2 percent at Hollister.

They were flat in the United States and down 3 percent abroad.

Under its new way of accounting for inventory, the company earned $157.2 million, or $1.95 per share, for the 14-week period, compared with $45.8 million, or 52 cents per share, a year earlier for a 13-week period.