Despite waning sales and a difficult retail climate, Gap Inc. reported 51 percent increase in profit for the second quarter.

The San Francisco retailer announced net second quarter earnings of $229 million, a 51 percent increase from its earnings of $152 million for the same period the previous year.

“External conditions aside, we continue to deliver improved earnings with healthy margins,” Chief Executive Glenn Murphy said.

Last month, the retailer estimated per-share earnings of 30 cents to 31 cents.

In July, Gap reported a decrease in second-quarter net sales by 5% at $3.5 billion and same-store sales fell 10%.

Same-store sales decreased at all of its divisions, falling 6% at Gap North America, 6% at Banana Republic North America, 16% at Old Navy North America and 6% internationally.

Gross margin rose to 38.2% from 34.9%.

The company confirmed its fiscal-year earnings projection of $1.30 to $1.35, which it had set in July. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expect $1.34 a share.

Gap also abridged its planned store openings for the year by 15, driven primarily by the struggling Banana Republic, to about 100 openings.