Ascena Retail shares fall on bottom-line outlook

Ascena Retail Group Inc. shares dropped in the extended session Monday after the Ann Taylor and Lane Bryant parent company's bottom-line outlook mostly fell short of Wall Street expectations. Ascena shares fell 11% after hours, following a 10% gain to close at $3.66 during the regular session. For the fourth quarter, Ascena estimates an adjusted loss of 5 cents a share to earnings of 5 cents a share on revenue of $1.62 billion to $1.66 billion. Analysts surveyed by FactSet expect earnings of 3 cents a share on revenue of $1.58 billion. The company reported a fiscal third-quarter loss of $40.2 million, or 20 cents a share, compared with a loss of $1.03 billion, or $5.29 a share, in the year-ago period. The adjusted loss was 8 cents a share. Revenue declined to $1.5 billion from $1.57 billion in the year-ago period. Analysts had estimated a loss of 9 cents a share on revenue of $1.47 billion.