Victoria Secret parent L Brands Inc. said Thursday February sales rose 11.5% to $853.9 million from $765.5 million in the same period a year ago, while same-store sales grew 3% for the month. The FactSet same-store sales consensus for the fiscal first-quarter ending April is a 2.4% rise. The stock was indicated down about 1.8% in premarket trade. Separately, the company said it authorized a new $250 million stock repurchase program, which includes the $23.1 million remaining under the previous program. At Wednesday’s stock closing price of $43.97, the new buyback program would allow the repurchase of up to 5.7 million shares, or about 2.0% of the shares outstanding. The stock has plunged 23.2% over the past three months, while the SPDR S&P Retail ETF has tacked on 1.4% and the S&P 500 has gained 2.8%.
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