Apparel retailer Gap Inc. said Thursday that same-store sales fell 11 percent in July, a larger drop than analysts were expecting, hurt by weak results across its brands.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial had expected same-store sales to fall 7 percent.

Same-store sales in North America fell 6 percent at Gap, dropped 8 percent at Banana Republic and declined 16 percent at Old Navy. International same-store sales fell 9 percent.

Same-store sales, or sales at stores open at least a year, are a key measure of retailer performance because they measure growth at existing stores rather than from newly opened ones.

Total sales for the four-week period ended Aug. 2 fell 5 percent to $998 million from $1.05 billion.

Gap said it focused on clearing out summer merchandise during the month to prepare for the fall season.

For the fiscal second quarter ended Aug. 2, same-store sales fell 10 percent, while total sales fell 5 percent to $3.5 billion. Analysts polled by Thomson Financial expected total sales of $3.52 billion.

The company also gave a second-quarter outlook above expectations and raised its fiscal-year expectations.

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