=Ascena Retail Group (ASNA) reported earnings on Mon 24 Sept 2018 (a/h)

Ascena Retail Group beats by $0.05, beats on revs; guides Q1 EPS below consensus, revs above estimate; guides FY19 EPS in-line, revs above consensus 

• Reports Q4 (Jul) adj. earnings of $0.07 per share, $0.05 better than the S&P Capital IQ Consensus of $0.02; revenues rose 6.5% year/year to $1.77 bln vs the $1.62 bln S&P Capital IQ Consensus. 
• Comps +4% vs. +0-2% guidance. Gross margin 57.5% vs. 56.5-57.0% guidance
• Co issues guidance for Q1, sees EPS of ($0.04)-0.06, excluding non-recurring items, vs. $0.15 S&P Capital IQ Consensus; sees Q1 revs of $1.54-1.56 bln vs. $1.51 bln single analyst estimate; comps +0-2%, gross margin 60.0-60.5%
• Co issues guidance for FY19, sees EPS of $0.00-0.10, excluding non-recurring items, vs. $0.08 S&P Capital IQ Consensus; sees FY19 revs of $6.45-6.55 bln vs. $6.22 bln S&P Capital IQ Consensus; comps up low single digits; gross margin 57.6-58.1%.
• "Our fourth quarter reflected sequential comp improvement across all our brands, and the first enterprise-level positive comp quarter for ascena since the second quarter of Fiscal 2015... We remain on track to achieve $300 million in annual run rate savings by July 2019, and are currently implementing the two remaining large capability-building components of our transformation program - localized planning and our customer experience management ecosystem."