- Women's apparel retailer Bebe Stores Inc (BEBE.O) posted a lower-than-expected quarterly sales as the retailer continues to see mall traffic dwindle.

For the second-quarter ended Jan 2, sales fell 23 percent to $135.5 million compared with $176.3 million a year ago.

Bebe - Summer 2009

Analysts on average were expecting sales of $152 million, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Same-store sales for the company, which exclude 62 PH8 stores due to conversion of Bebe Sport stores to PH8 stores, fell 22.5 percent for the quarter.

The retailer, which saw a 20.1 percent drop in same-store sales in the year-ago quarter, has undertaken a number of cost-cutting measures to counter slumping sales.

Shares of the Brisbane, California-based retailer were down 4 cents in pre-market trade. They closed at $6.54 Wednesday 6 January on Nasdaq.

(Reporting by Shobhana Chadha in Bangalore; Editing by Ratul Ray Chaudhuri)