Most Recent Quarter (4Q18) Annual Financial Results [caption id="attachment_56201" align="aligncenter" width="820"] Source: Company Reports; Bloomberg; Fiscal year ends August 4. TTM = trailing 12 months ended August 4, 2018[/caption] Company Profile Ascena is a specialty retailer offering apparel, shoes and accessories for women and tween girls under four segments: Premium Fashion, Value Fashion, Plus Fashion and Kids Fashion. The company operates approximately 4,600 stores int the US, Canada, and Puerto Rico through the brands Ann Taylor, Loft, Maurices, Dressbarn, Lane Bryant, Catherines, and Justice brands. It also sells online, including anntaylor.com, LOFT.com, louandgrey.com, maurices.com, dressbarn.com, lanebryant.com, catherines.com, and shopjustice.com. The company was founded in 1962 and is based in Mahwah, New Jersey. It was known as Dress Barn, Inc. until 2011, when it changed its name to Ascena Retail Group, Inc.

• Premium Fashion: Ascena operates Ann Taylor and Loft brands which focus on professional classics. Ann Taylor and Loft stores are predominantly located in malls, lifestyle centers and outlets. There are 304 stores under Ann Taylor and 672 under the Loft brand.
• Value Fashion: Includes Maurices, fashion apparel that caters to a local market preference, and Dressbarn, special occasion and casual fashion for working women. There are 972 stores under the Maurices brand and 730 under the Dressbarn brand.
• Plus Fashion: Includes Lane Bryant, plus-size fashion apparel in sizes 14-28, and Catherines, offering an extended size range of plus size apparel in sizes 16-34, and 0X-5X and extended sizes 28-34 and 4X-5X. There are 749 Lane Bryant stores and 349 Catherines stores. 
• Kids Fashion: Includes the Justice brand for girls ages 6 to 12. There are 847 Justice stores.

Strategy The company’s strategy centers on omni-channel, including cross-channel logistics optimization and exploring additional ways to develop an omni-channel shopping experience, further direct channel integration, use of advance analytics, customer personalization, and implementing other emerging technologies. The company is working to optimize physical store operations and its real estate portfolio, which may involve store relocation and opening and closing of stores. Geography The company operates over 4,600 stores throughout the US, Canada and Puerto Rico and employs approximately 39,500 employees.  Revenue Breakdown (2018) [caption id="attachment_56202" align="aligncenter" width="772"] Source: Company reports; Bloomberg[/caption] Recent Developments

Date	Development
Nov 16, 2018	Ann Taylor and LOFT announce their continued partnership with St. Jude Children's Research Hospital by participating in the St. Jude Thanks and Giving campaign for the 12th consecutive year.
Oct 5, 2018	Ascena Retail Group appoints Kate Buggeln as Lead Independent Director and Carrie W. Teffner as a member of Ascena’s Board of Directors. Ms. Buggeln will preside at executive sessions of the independent directors and serve as liaison between the independent directors and the Chairman of the Board.
Oct 2, 2018	Justice, Ascena Retail Group’s brand focused on tween girls with clothing, accessories and more, launches an entertainment division, Justice Studios, that will create original content.
Oct 1, 2018	Ascena Retail Group appoints Wendy L. Hufford Senior Vice President and General Counsel. Hufford will oversee all legal matters for the company and will serve on the company’s leadership team.

Management Team

• David R Jaffe, Chairman and CEO
• Brian Lynch, President and COO
• Gary P Muto, President and CEO of Ascena Brands
• George G Goldfarb, President and CEO of Value Fashion
• Eric W Hunter, President and CEO of Plus Fashion
• Erin Stern, President of Dressbarn

Source: Company reports/Bloomberg/Capital IQ/Coresight Research

Sector Overview

• For context on this company, please refer to our report Sector Overview: specialty retailer.