Retailer Tilly’s profit jumps 21%

Teen clothing retailer Tilly’s Inc. on Wednesday released its first earnings report since its initial public stock offering in May.

The company, which makes surf- and skate-inspired ware, said it had a profit of $5.9 million, or 29 cents a share, for its fiscal first quarter ended April 28, an increase of 21% over the same period a year earlier.

Tilly’s had sales of $96.5 million, an increase of 16.1%.

Comparable-store sales were up 4.3%.

The company operates 145 stores, most of which are in California. It said Wednesday that it planned to expand to more than 500 stores over the next 10 years.

Tilly’s, founded in 1982 by Hezy Shaked and Tilly Levine, doubled its number of stores in the last five years, with some recently opened locations on the East Coast and in the Midwest and the South.

The company’s new stores in the Midwest and the South, including in Texas and South Dakota, are exceeding expectations, Chief Executive Daniel Griesemer said in a conference call with investors.

“It’s continued to give us confidence that we can grow this business and that there’s relevance for the Tilly’s brand nationally,” Griesemer said.

Retail analyst Jeff Van Sinderen of B. Riley & Co. said the success of Tilly’s outside its California base was encouraging.

“If you saw them opening stores in South Dakota and those stores weren’t performing well, I think then we might be concerned,” Van Sinderen said.

But Tilly’s has a lot of competition, which includes “broader appeal teen retailers,” such as Abercrombie & Fitch and American Eagle Outfitters, Van Sinderen wrote in a report.

Tilly’s raised $124 million from its May 4 IPO.

The stock closed at $15.68 on Wednesday, down 8.5% for the day, before its earnings release.