Chico’s FAS Inc. (CHS)
Q3 2009 Earnings Call Transcript
November 18, 2009 8:30 a.m. ET

Executives

Robert C. Atkinson - Vice President, Investor Relations
David F. Dyer - President and Chief Executive Officer
Kent A. Kleeberger - Executive Vice President, Treasurer and Chief Financial Officer

Analysts

Randal J. Konik - Jefferies & Company
Stacy Pak - SP Research, Inc.
Brian J. Tunick - J.P. Morgan Securities, Inc.
Thomas A. Filandro - Susquehanna Investment Group
Lorraine Hutchinson - Bank of America - Merrill Lynch Research
Kimberly Greenberger - Citigroup
Barbara Wyckoff - Jesup & Lamont
Margaret Whitfield - Sterne, Agee & Leach
Adrienne Tennant - FBR Capital Markets & Co.
Michelle Tan - Goldman, Sachs & Co.
Janet Kloppenburg - JJK Research
Tracy Kogan - Credit Suisse
Steve Kernkraut - Berman Capital Management
Lizabeth Dunn - Thomas Weisel Partners
Elizabeth Pierce - Roth Capital Partners LLC
Richard E. Jaffe - Stifel Nicolaus & Company, Inc.

Presentation

Operator

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for standing by. And welcome to Chico’s FAS third quarter earnings conference call and webcast. I will turn the call over to Robert Atkinson, Vice President, Investor Relations to begin.

Robert C. Atkinson

Thanks, Randy. And good morning, everyone. Welcome to the Chico’s FAS third quarter earnings conference call and webcast. CEO, Dave Dyer; and CFO, Kent Kleeberger, are with me here at our National Store Support Center in Fort Myers.

Before Dave begins his executive overview, I must remind you of our Safe Harbor statement. Certain statements made this morning including, without limitation, statements addressing the beliefs, plans, objectives, estimates, or expectations of the company or future results or events constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 as amended.

Such forward-looking statements involve known or unknown risk including, but not limited to, general economic and business conditions and the conditions within the specialty retail industry. There can be no assurance that future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements will occur.

Users of forward-looking statements are encouraged to review the company’s latest annual report on Form 10-K, its filings on Form 10-Q, management’s discussion analysis and the company’s latest annual report to shareholders, the company’s filings on Form 8-K and other Federal Securities Law filings for a description of other important factors that may affect the company’s results of operations and financial condition.

The company does not undertake to publicly update or revise its forward-looking statements, even if experience or future changes make it clear that projected results expressed or implied by such statements may not be realized.

Please note it has been our practice to file an 8-K with the SEC that will include a transcript of today’s conference call and webcast.

With that, I’ll turn it over to Dave Dyer for his executive overview. Dave?

David F. Dyer

Thanks, Bob. And good morning, everyone. Well, if someone had told me last January that our company would deliver double-digit comp increase in the third quarter, its first in over three and half years, I would have probably thought the prediction was a bit aggressive.

Well, here we are and wow, it feels good. To make such a significant improvement in such a short period of time speaks volumes about the customer focus, drive and dedication of our more than 17,000 associates and is a true testament to our commitment to return Chico’s FAS to a top tier performer.

Last January, I spoke about our passionate customer base who were pulling for our success. I also said that we would rededicate ourselves to our customers by providing them with exciting fashion and the amazing personal service they deserve and have come to expect. It appears that our customers have responded to our efforts and based on our third quarter results have voted with their pocket books.