Abercrombie &Fitch By regions, comps were strongest in the West and weakest in the Midwest. Given continued uncertainty in the economy, the Company entered the fourth quarter of fiscal 2002 with an approach designed to protect both the bottom line and the aspirational quality of the brands. The Company continued to strategically use direct mail and bounce-back promotions, but, overall, a much less aggressive approach to promotions was undertaken compared to 2001. ended February 3, 2001. The fourth quarter of 2001 was highly promotional and a number of promotional strategies, including direct mail, bouncebacks and selective price point reductions, were employed to improve the sales trend from the third quarter 2001. By merchandise concept, Abercrombie & Fitch’s comps declined in the high-single digits with women’s comps roughly flat for the quarter while men’s comps were negative double digits. Comps for our kids’ business followed a similar trend to the adult busi- ness with girls’ comps much stronger than boys’ comps. The pre-Christmas selling environment was very challenging and, as expected, comp store sales were negative for the fourth quarter prior to Christmas. Comps improved significantly  after Christmas, resulting in a flat comp for December 2002. January 2003 comps were positive 3%, which reflected strong sales of winter clearance, and positive results from the initial spring assortment. By regions, comps were strongest in the Northeast and the West Coast and weakest in the Southeast and Midwest. From a merchandising standpoint, womens outperformed mens and generated strong comp increases in denim, graphic tees and skirts. Newer women’s classifications, such as gymwear and lingerie performed well. Mens was difficult with no solid indus- try-wide trend. Similar to womens, men’s denim consistently performed well and comps were strong through Christmas. However, men’s outerwear and sweater classifications had sig- nificant decreases. From a merchandising standpoint, womens continued to out- perform mens. Key classifications in womens during the quarter included woven shirts, knit tops, outerwear, pants, sweats and underwear. Mens continued to be difficult and there remained no solid trend industry-wide. However, knit tops and woven shirts performed well during the quarter. As for the kids’ business, knit tops, sweats, woven tops, pants and outerwear performed very well in girls. In boys, denim and sweats performed best. As in the adult business, boys con- tinued to be difficult. In the kids’ business, strong girls’ categories were denim, skirts, knits and accessories while sweaters and outerwear classifications were weak. Boys’ strong classifications were knits and denim. In the adult e-commerce business, sales grew by over 27% during the fourth quarter of 2001 compared to 2000. The Company’s catalogue, the A&F Quarterly and the Company’s Web sites accounted for 4.5% of net sales in the fourth quarter of 2001 as compared to 5.0% in 2000. The decrease is primarily due to the Company not producing an A&F Quarterly in the fourth quarter of 2001. In Hollister, girls continued to be more significant than guys, rep- resenting approximately 65% of the overall business. For the quarter, the best performing girls classifications were woven shirts, knit tops, sweats, skirts and denim. In guys, denim, knit tops, graphic t-shirts, sweatshirts and accessories performed best. Sales in the e-commerce business grew by over 25% during the fourth quarter of fiscal 2002 as compared to 2001. The Company remains on track to add a Hollister e-commerce business for back- to-school 2003. The direct business (which includes the Company’s catalogue, the A&F Quarterly (a catalogue/magazine) and the Company’s Web sites) accounted for 5.0% of net sales in the fourth quarter of 2002 as compared to 4.5% in 2001. FISCAL 2002  Net sales for fiscal year 2002 reached $1.6 billion, up 17% over fiscal year 2001. The sales increase was attributable to the net addition of 106 stores offset by a 5% comparable store sales decrease. The decline in comps was primarily due to the weak performance in both the mens and boys. Men’s comps decreased in low-double digits for fiscal year 2002 while boys’ comps decreased in the mid-teens. For Spring 2003, the Company continues to maintain a cautious approach in mens, focusing on delivering more new items more frequently. The men’s assortment for spring features a “vintage look” which is emphasized in washes, colors and marketing. As in mens, a cau- tious approach will be maintained in boys. FOURTH QUARTER 2001  Fourth quarter 2001 net sales increased 6% to $466.6 million from $439.4 million in 2000. The increase was due to the addition of new stores offset by a 9% decline in comps as compared with the previous year’s 13-week period 5