Limited ups buyback to $1B, plans layoffs

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Clothing retailer Limited Brands, owner of Limited Stores, Express, and Victoria's Secret, announced a plan Friday to increase its share buyback from $500 million to $1 billion and to lay off 10 percent of its staff at the corporate level and brand home offices.

The company, which also owns Bath & Body Works, said the layoffs will occur in fiscal 2008. The company employs 5,300 people at the corporate and brand home office. No lay-offs are planned at the store level, according to a release.

Limited Brands (Charts, Fortune 500) will also issue $1.25 billion in debt, the company said. Together, the actions are part of the company's plan to reduce its expenses and boost its stock price.

The company is still weighing its options to sell the Limited Stores business, the release said, as well as other non-core assets, including real estate and other investments.

Limited Brands stock was up 86 cents to $28.05 in morning trade on The New York Stock Exchange.

The company, which competes with The Gap (Charts, Fortune 500) and Estee Lauder Companies (Charts, Fortune 500), currently operates 3,764 stores.