Sales and earnings slipped during Dillard’s first quarter, but the company came through the period better than Wall Street expected.
Dillard’s reported net income was $163.8 million, or $10.39 per share, versus $180 million, or $11.09 per share, for the year-prior quarter.
A MarketBeat-published an analyst consensus estimate for earnings of $9.10 and revenue of $1.53 billion.
Total retail sales decreased 2% to $1.47 billion from $1.49 billion in the year-before quarter as comparable stores decreased 1%, the company reported. Stronger-performing categories were juniors’ and children’s apparel and men’s clothing and accessories, while weaker-performing categories were home and furniture, shoes and ladies’ apparel. Net sales, including the operations of Dillard’s construction business, CDI Contractors, were $1.53 billion versus $1.55 billion in the year-previous period. Total revenues, including service charges and other income, was $1.55 billion versus $1.57 billion in the year-past quarter.
In announcing the financial results, the company’s CEO William Dillard, II, said, “We turned in a relatively good first quarter in light of the prevailing economic uncertainty. We kept expenses under control and reported a healthy gross margin. After repurchasing $98 million in stock, we had $1.2 billion in cash and short-term investments remaining.”
