Esprit posts net loss in fiscal 2013, lags forecast

HONG KONG - Clothing retailer Esprit Holdings Ltd posted on Tuesday a deeper-than-expected net loss for fiscal 2013, weighed down by weakness in its main market Europe and store closures.

Esprit said its net loss for the 12 months ended in June - its first annual loss - amounted to HK$4.39 billion ($566.1 million).

The company had been expected to post a HK$3.1 billion loss, according to the average forecast by seven analysts polled by Thomson Reuters.

Esprit posted a second-half loss of HK$3.92 billion, against a HK$318 million profit for January-June period a year earlier, according to Reuters' calculations.

Esprit had in May warned that it would record a goodwill impairment of between HK$1.8 billion and HK$2 billion, and close around 16 loss-making stores - most of them in Europe - at a cost of HK$250 million to HK$300 million.

Esprit recorded a profit of HK$873 million a year earlier.

($1 = 7.7553 Hong Kong dollars)