UPDATE 1-Charming Shoppes seeks alternatives for non-core assets

(Recasts, adds details, analyst comments)

By Swagata Gupta

BANGALORE, April 25 (Reuters) - Women's plus-size apparel retailer Charming Shoppes Inc (CHRS.O: Quote, Profile, Research) said it is exploring strategic alternatives for its non-core apparel catalogs to focus on core brands, and cut its planned spending for fiscal 2009.

The company's intention is to raise money by selling its assets, which is an appropriate decision given the current challenging consumer environment, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC analyst Holly Guthrie said.

The company, whose core brands include Lane Bryant, Catherines and Fashion Bug, said it retained Banc of America Securities and Lehman Brothers as its financial advisers.

"We have received a number of inquiries from qualified third parties and are evaluating several alternatives for our non-core apparel catalog titles...," Chief Executive Dorrit Bern said in a statement.

The company, which had earlier this year cut jobs and planned to close stores, said it expects to reduce capital expenditures by an additional $20 million for fiscal 2009, bringing the total planned cuts to $63 million for the year.

Standard & Poor's Equity Research analyst Pearly Wang upgraded the stock to "sell" from "strong sell," saying the company's plans to enhance shareholder value and focus on core brands were encouraging.

Shares of the Bensalem, Pennsylvania-based company, which operated 2,409 retail stores in 48 U.S. states at Feb. 2, were up 3 percent at $4.99 in noon trade on Nasdaq. (Editing by Deepak Kannan)