March 7 (Reuters) - Gap beat Wall Street

expectations for fourth-quarter sales on Thursday, buoyed by

strong demand on improved product offerings at its Old Navy and

namesake brands during the holiday season.

CEO Richard Dickson's plans to push ahead with reinventing

Gap's brands, mainly Old Navy, have helped drive consumer

interest in its clothing and accessories.

The Banana Republic parent had seen sales slump in the past

several quarters as customers moved to competitors such as

Amazon.com ( AMZN ) and Shein that offer compelling product

assortments.

Fourth-quarter comparable sales at the Gap brand rose 4% and

Old Navy saw a 2% increase, while Athleta and Banana Republic

sales slumped 10% and 4%, respectively.

However, Gap expects fiscal 2024 net sales to be flat

compared with $14.89 billion in 2023. Analysts had expected a

0.48% rise, according to LSEG data.

Gap's forecast signals that improving its product

assortments mainly at Athleta and Banana Republic could take

longer than expected.

"Re-establishing Banana Republic will take time and there is

work to be done to better execute many of the fundamentals," the

company said on Thursday.

"They can edit and curate better, and can work color and

color combinations better," Leslie Ghize, executive vice

president of Coller Davis & Co, a division of retail consultancy

Doneger Tobe said.

Gap's fourth-quarter net sales rose 1.3% to $4.30 billion,

beating estimates of $4.22 billion.

The company posted a net income of $185 million, or 49 cents

per share, in the quarter, compared to a loss of $273 million,

or 75 cents per share, a year earlier.