Comparable store sales and earnings slipped in Dillard’s first quarter as sales trends softened through the period, but the retailer still managed to beat Wall Street estimates.
In the quarter, Dillard’s reported net income of $201.5 million, or $11.85 per share, versus $251.1 million, or $13.68 per share, for the prior-year period, according to the company.
First-quarter net income includes a $1.4 million, or eight cents per share, after-tax gain primarily related to the sale of a store property, the company indicated. Net income for the previous-year period included a $5.6 million, or 31 cents per share, after-tax gain primarily also related to the sale of a store property.
Dillard’s beat a Yahoo Finance-published analyst consensus estimate that called for earnings of $10.77 cents per share and revenues of $1.55 billion.
Comparable store sales decreased 4% in the quarter year over year, the company noted. Net revenues were $1.58 billion versus $1.61 billion in the year-before period Total retail sales, without the contribution of the company’s CDI Contractors construction business, were $1.52 billion versus $1.58 billion in the year-earlier period. The company pointed out that customer activity declined in the back half of the quarter. Cosmetics came in as the strongest performing category, followed by shoes and ladies’ apparel.
