Urban Outfitters

- Clothing and home goods retailer Urban Outfitters Inc posted a 79 percent jump in quarterly profit, beating market estimates, driven by strong same-store sales across all its branded stores and fewer markdowns that boosted gross profit margins.

The specialty retailer reported net income of $57.0 million, or 33 cents a share, for the second quarter ended July 31, compared with $31.9 million, or 19 cents a share, a year earlier.

Urban Outfitters, which competes with Aeropostale , American Eagle Outfitters and Abercrombie & Fitch , said net sales rose 30 percent to $454.3 million.

Analysts on average expected the company, which sells casual clothes, accessories, gifts, housewares and shoes, to earn 30 cents a share, before special items, on revenue of $434.2 million, according to Reuters Estimates.

Sales at stores open at least a year grew 13 percent during the quarter, with sales at the company's namesake stores, which cater to young adults, rising 19 percent.

Same-store sales at Anthropologie, which focuses on affluent women in their thirties, rose 7 percent, while comparable sales jumped 10 percent at Free People stores.

For the quarter, gross profit margins increased by 373 basis points, helped by improvements in initial merchandise cost, reductions in markdowns and leverage of store occupancy costs.

Shares of the Philadelphia-based company closed at $34.05 Wednesday on Nasdaq.

(Reporting by Anne Pallivathuckal in Bangalore; Editing by Himani Sarkar)