Liz Claiborne adjusted EPS tops Street

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Fashion company Liz Claiborne Inc (LIZ.N) posted lower adjusted quarterly profit on Monday that beat Wall Street estimates by two cents, and the company narrowed the range of its full-year earnings view.

"The current operating environment has been negatively impacted by significant declines in consumer confidence and discretionary spending," said Chief Executive William McComb in a statement.

The owner of the Juicy Couture, Lucky Brand and Kate Spade brands, which has been restructuring its business as it pays down debt, said it would not provide a forecast for 2009, given "the lack of visibility caused by the highly uncertain environment."

For the third quarter, the company reported a net loss of $68.73 million, or 10 cents per share, compared with a net profit of $33.05 million, or 33 cents per share, a year ago.

Excluding items, the company earned 39 cents per share.

Analysts, on average, had been expecting 37 cents per share, excluding items, according to Reuters Estimates. The company had forecast adjusted profit of 37 cents to 42 cents.

Revenue from continuing operations fell 16 percent in the quarter to $1.02 billion, in line with Wall Street estimates.

Liz Claiborne recently undertook a restructuring to become more of a retailer than a wholesaler, and thereby lessen its dependence on traditional department stores that have been struggling with weak sales and have been forced to discount apparel.

But the company still owns department store brands like Liz Claiborne, Money and Kensie.

In the "direct brand" unit, total sales in the third quarter fell 1.8 percent to $617 million, including a 7 percent sales increase at Juicy Couture and a 9 percent decrease at Mexx.

But the "partnered brand" segment, which includes wholesale brands, saw a 31 percent sales decline to $398 million.

Last month, Liz Claiborne slashed its outlook for the holiday shopping season, citing a drop-off in consumer spending in the wake of the global financial crisis, which erupted in September.

As reported last month, the company still expects to earn 19 cents to 24 cents per share in the fourth quarter, down from a prior forecast of 66 cents to 71 cents.

But for the full year, Liz Claiborne said on Monday that it now expects adjusted earnings per share between $1.02 to $1.07, a narrowed range from its prior outlook of $1.00 to $1.10 per share.

Analysts, on average, had been expecting fourth-quarter earnings of 24 cents per share and full-year earnings of 99 cents per share, according to Reuters Estimates.

Liz Claiborne said it expects to generate cash flow from continuing operations for the full year between $300 million to $325 million.