Victoria’s Secret & Co. on Wednesday said it was “encouraged” by demand for its bras, sleepwear and other clothing in May, but the company said it was exercising restraint amid continued caution more broadly among the U.S. consumer.

Victoria’s Secret (NYSE:VSCO) shares are struggling for direction in Wednesday's after-hours trading as Q1 results and guidance came in roughly in line with what the street was expecting, but with lower sales growth and declining profits from a year ago. "We delivered meaningful newness in merchandise and brand projection during the quarter and our customers responded, particularly in April, which was our strongest month of the quarter,” CEO Martin Waters said, adding that the “retail environment in North America was challenging, and the promotional environment was very competitive, but importantly our gross margin rate was above last year.”

Victoria's Secret (VSCO) came out with quarterly earnings of $0.12 per share, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $0.11 per share. This compares to earnings of $0.28 per share a year ago. These figures are adjusted for non-recurring items. This quarterly report represents an earnings surprise of 9.09%. A quarter ago, it was expected that this retailer of lingerie, pajamas and beauty products would post earnings of $2.46 per share when it...