This summary is based on the fourth quarter fiscal 2007 earnings call conducted by Abercrombie & Fitch Company (ANF: chart) on February 15, 2008.

Management:

CFO and EVP: Michael W Kramer
VP, Finance: Mike Nuzzo
Senior Director, Investor Relations: Brian Logan

Key Investor Issues:

- Fourth quarter net income per diluted share rose to $2.40 from $2.14 last year quarter.
- Quarterly sales rose 8% to $1.229 billion from $1.139 billion in the year ago quarter.
- A fourth quarter cash dividend of 17.5 cents was declared.

Fiscal 2007 Financial Highlights:

- Net income increased by 13% to $475.7 million from $422.2 million in 2006.
- Fiscal 2007 net income per diluted share rose from $4.59 to $5.20, a 13% increase.

- The net sales increased 13% to $3.750 billion compared with $3.318 billion in the previous year.
- The direct-to-consumer net sales rose 49% to $258.9 million for the 52-week fiscal year ended February 2, 2008 versus the 53-week fiscal year ended February 3, 2007.

The fiscal 2007 gross profit rate of 67% represented an increase of 40 basis points from last year’s 66.6%.

- For fiscal 2007, operating income was $740.5 million compared with $658.1 million for fiscal 2006.
- The operating income as a percentage of sales was 27.4% for fiscal 2007 compared with 27.1% in the past year.

- For the fiscal 2007, stores and distribution expense as a percentage of sales increased 120 basis pints to 37% compared with the prior year of 35.8%.
- The marketing, general and administrative expense decreased from 11.3% to 10.6%, representing 70 basis points dip.
- The effective tax rate for fiscal 2007 was 37.4% versus 37.2% for the fiscal 2006.

Fourth Quarter Financial Highlights:

The company posted fourth quarter total net sales of $1.229 billion, an increase of 8% from $1.139 billion for the 14 weeks ended February 3, 2007.

- The comparable store sales decreased a marginal 1% versus the 13 week period ended February 3, 2007.
- The total direct-to-consumer net sales firmed 45% to $108.6 million from the previous year quarter of about $45 million.
- The transactions per store per week decreased by 2% and the average transaction value rose by 1% for the 13 week period ended February 2, 2008 compared with the 13 week period ended February 3, 2007.

Sales Details of Brands

- Abercrombie & Fitch net sales rose 4% to $522.4 million and comparable store sales put on 1%.
- abercrombie net sales increased by 11% to $159.8 million whilst abercrombie comparable stores sales recorded a 3% dip during the quarter.
- The net sales at Hollister gained by 11% to $530.9 million with comparable store sales softening by 2%.

The net income per diluted share for the fourth quarter increased by 12% to $2.40 against $2.14 in the fourth quarter fiscal 2006.

This was against a fourth quarter net income of $216.8 million, being 9% stronger than the previous year quarter net income of $198.2 million.

The operating income for the fourth quarter firmed from $308.8 million last year quarter to $337.1 million, representing 9% increase.

The gross profit rate of 67.2% for the fourth quarter was 80 basis points stronger than last year.