For the first quarter, The Aaron’s Co. came up short of Wall Street estimates as the business turned to a loss.
Aaron’s fell short of a MarketBeat analyst consensus estimate of a seven-cent loss in the quarter and revenues of $521.1 million.
Aaron’s revenues were $511.5 million versus $554.4 million in the year-prior quarter. Operating loss was $12.4 million versus operating profit of $12.7 million in the year-earlier period, Aaron’s reported.
At the Brandsmart retail operation, as opposed to the leasing-based business conducted by the rest of the company, comparable sales decreased 9.4%, a sequential improvement of 460 basis points, the company noted.
“We are seeing strong positive momentum in the business, and our first quarter results were in line with our guidance,” Douglas Lindsay, Aaron’s Company CEO, said in announcing the financial results. “Our new omnichannel lease decisioning and customer acquisition program at the Aaron’s Business is driving significant growth in lease merchandise deliveries, and we continue to expect mid-single digit lease portfolio growth by the end of 2024. At BrandsMart, we continue to achieve operational efficiencies, and despite the challenging retail demand environment, comparable sales improved sequentially. We remain focused on our strategic priorities of improving operational performance, streamlining our cost structure and innovating our business to better serve customers. Our management team and board remain highly engaged and committed to taking all actions that will deliver additional value for our shareholders.”
