...New York (Standard & Poor's) May 22, 2015¡-Standard & Poor's Ratings Services said today that it expects The Gap Inc.'s recent negative sales trends to moderate during 2015. The Gap has affirmed its earnings guidance for the full year. Gap Inc. reported a significant 10% same-store sales decline for its Gap brand and 8% same-store sales decline for Banana Republic for the quarter ended May 2, 2015, which more than offset continued good performance from its Old Navy brand with 3% same-store sales growth. Although some of the contributing factors are largely behind us (such as the West Coast port slow-down), we believe the specialty apparel industry will remain soft, given the heightened industry competition (especially from fast fashion and off-pricing retailers), the sustained highly promotional environment in the U.S., and continuing cautious consumer spending on small-ticket purchases. Moreover, we believe it will take several quarters for the company's current effort of reviving the...
