Citi Trends Announces Fourth Quarter and Fiscal 2012 Sales and Estimates Net Loss for the Fourth Quarter
The Company's 2012 fiscal year contained 53 weeks compared with the
traditional 52 weeks in fiscal 2011. Accordingly, comparisons of total
sales for the fourth quarter and full year of fiscal 2012 to the same
periods in 2011 are affected by an extra week of sales in 2012. However,
for comparable store sales, the Company is reporting on a comparable
weeks basis (e.g. the 14 weeks ended
Total sales in the 14-week quarter ended
For the year, total sales in the 53 weeks ended
Impact from Delayed Tax Refunds
Fourth quarter comparable store sales decreased 11.8%, comparing the 14
weeks ended
Although the year-end closing process is not complete, we expect to
report a net loss of approximately
Fourth Quarter Comparable Sales by Month
Comparable store sales in November increased 1%, continuing the slight positive trend that we began in the third quarter.
Comparable store sales in December decreased 10%. We mentioned on the
third quarter earnings call that we expected a drag on fourth quarter
sales from lower layaways. The drag impacted the December month by more
than 3% and the quarter by about 2%. Additionally, we cautioned about
the potential difficulty of comparing to last year's promotional
environment. Last year's promotional environment was felt most in the
ladies' business in December. Sales in December were also impacted at
the end of the month by a shift in sales around the
Comparable store sales in January dropped 28%. January comparable sales
were actually up 10% for the first three weeks of the five-week month,
benefiting from the calendar change mentioned above regarding December.
But as mentioned, sales the last two weeks dropped over
Outlook Commentary
"While there were several positives in merchandising in the quarter,
improving sales remains our number one objective," noted
"We believe that we are in a fashion cycle where price is still very important. At the beginning of 2012, we had two merchandising issues - we were not as competitively priced nor as fashion right as we needed to be. We solved the pricing issue and now compete with anyone on price. We have made progress on the fashion issue and believe we can solve it in 2013.
"We ended the year with inventories in a very healthy position. Our
balance sheet is strong and we ended the year with approximately
"Note that fiscal 2013 will be a 52-week year, following the 53 weeks of
fiscal 2012. The week that will be lost is week one of fiscal 2012 which
was a
"Looking forward to the first quarter of 2013, we expect sales to be negatively impacted by the calendar change mentioned above. We do expect some benefit from the tax refunds moving from late 2012 into 2013. But, we also know that our ladies' apparel business is still significantly challenged by the diminished brand sales. So, our outlook for the first quarter of 2013 remains cautious.
"We continue to be optimistic about our future and believe we are taking the actions we need to take to complete the turnaround of Citi Trends."
Investor Conference Call and Webcast
The Company will report complete financial results for its fourth
quarter and fiscal 2012 before the market opens on
The live broadcast of
During the conference call, the Company may discuss and answer questions concerning business and financial developments and trends after quarter-end. The Company's responses to questions, as well as other matters discussed during the conference call, may contain or constitute information that has not been disclosed previously.
About
Forward-Looking Statements
All statements other than historical facts contained in this news
release, including statements regarding our future financial results and
position, business policy and plans and objectives of management for
future operations, are forward-looking statements that are subject to
material risks and uncertainties. The words "believe," "may,"
"could," "plans," "estimate," "continue," "anticipate," "intend,"
"expect" and similar expressions, as they relate to
Bruce Smith, 912-443-2075
Chief Financial
Officer
or
Chairman & Chief
Executive Officer
Source:
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