(Reuters) - Fashion retailer L Brands on Wednesday posted a disappointing quarterly profit hurt by lower sales at its Victoria's Secret brand and forecast 2019 earnings below estimates, sending its shares down 6 percent in after-hours trading.
Sales at Victoria's Secret fell 5.14 percent to $2.53 billion (1.9 billion pounds) while same-store sales declined 3 percent in the holiday quarter, as customers move to comfortable sports bras and bralettes.
The Victoria's Secret owner also said it expects 2019 earnings per share to be between $2.20 and $2.60, falling short of analysts' estimates of $2.71, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.
Same-store sales for L Brands on the whole rose 3 percent as its second-biggest division by revenue, Bath & Body Works, saw a same-store sales growth of 12 percent.
Net income fell to $5.4 million, or $1.94 per share, in the quarter ended Feb. 2, from $6.4 million or $2.33 a share, a year earlier.
Net sales for the quarter rose 0.60 percent to $4.85 billion.
Excluding expenses, the company earned $2.14 per share.
Analysts on average had expected the company to report quarterly adjusted earnings of $2.07 per share, on revenue of $4.88 billion, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.
(Reporting by Ishita Chigilli Palli and Supriya Roy in Bengaluru; Editing by Shreejay Sinha)
