Wet Seal Stock Continues Advance

IRVINE —  Wet Seal Inc. continues to make a splash on Wall Street.

In its second day of trading, the Irvine-based retailer of casual women’s clothing was the 10th most active stock on the over-the-counter national market. More than 865,000 shares changed hands and Wet Seal closed up $1, at $18.25 a share.

The company’s stock has increased 28.1% since being issued at $14.25 in its initial public offering.

Wet Seal, which operates 78 stores in California, Arizona, Hawaii and Nevada, said it will use most of the proceeds from the stock offering to pay back debt and finance expansion. The retailer said it hopes to open 15 stores this year, including three in Florida.

The company reported earnings of $5.9 million on sales of $78.7 million for the fiscal year ended in February. The previous year it had net income of $1.8 million on sales of $44.9 million.