DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

Tween Brands Inc. (NYSE:TWB) (TWB) said first-quarter profit dropped to $4.28 million, or 17 cents a share, from $12.5 million, or 39 cents, a year earlier.

Sales rose to $251.7 million from $223.2 million.

Excluding charges, the company said it would have earned 21 cents a share. On that basis, profit met the average estimate of analysts surveyed by FactSet Research. The retailer forecast second-quarter per-share profit of break even to 4 cents a share with sales rising in the mid-teens.

Comparable sales at the company's Limited Too chain declined 7%.

-Andria Cheng; 415-439-6400; AskNewswires@dowjones.com

    (END) Dow Jones Newswires   05-21-08 0832   Copyright (c) 2008 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.