Stage Stores (SSI) Reports Q1 Loss of $1.14, Miss on Revenues; Offers FY18 Revenue Guidance Above Consensus

Stage Stores (NYSE: SSI) reported Q1 EPS of ($1.14). Revenue for the quarter came in at $344 million versus the consensus estimate of $357.24 million.

Michael Glazer, President and Chief Executive Officer commented, “While the first quarter began with positive comparable sales in February, results were negatively impacted by unseasonably cold temperatures in our geography in late March and early April. Once the weather normalized in the second half of April, comparable sales turned positive, and business has accelerated in May. Notably, the underlying trends that emerged in 2017, including recovery in our oil and gas states, double-digit ecommerce growth, and the outperforming non-apparel business, have continued into 2018. In fact, our non-apparel business, which is less weather sensitive, was up over 3% for the first quarter. Additionally, due to our strong inventory management efforts, we maintained a consistent flow of new merchandise to our stores, and ended the first quarter with department store inventory levels down 5% compared to the first quarter 2017.”

Mr. Glazer continued, “We remain confident that we will meet our 2018 sales and earnings guidance. We are especially excited about accelerating the growth of our off-price business, and the recent conversion of one of our department stores to Gordmans has exceeded our expectations. As a result, we plan to redeploy capital to convert six more department stores and open one new Gordmans location in 2018.”

The company also announced that its Board of Directors declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.05 per share on its common stock, payable on June 20, 2018 to shareholders of record at the close of business on June 5, 2018.

First Quarter Results

First quarter 2018 results compared to first quarter 2017 results were as follows:

• Net sales were $344 million compared to $309 million
• Comparable sales decreased 2.8%
• Net loss was $31.7 million compared to $19.0 million
• Loss per share was $1.14 compared to a loss per share of $0.70
• EBIT was $(29.3) million compared to $(26.3) million

2018 Guidance

For fiscal 2018, the company reaffirmed the following guidance:

• Net sales between $1,610 million and $1,640 million
• Comparable sales of flat to an increase of 2.0%
• Net loss between $38 million and $27 million
• Tax rate of 0%, which, when compared to 2017, is expected to negatively impact 2018 EPS by $0.36 to $0.52 per diluted share within the comparable sales and EBIT guidance ranges
• Loss per diluted share between $1.35 and $0.95
• Depreciation and amortization between $55 million and $60 million
• EBIT between $(29) million and $(18) million

GUIDANCE:

Stage Stores sees FY2018 EPS of ($1.35)-($0.95). Stage Stores sees FY2018 revenue of $1.61-1.64 billion, versus the consensus of $1.59 billion.

For earnings history and earnings-related data on Stage Stores (SSI) click here.

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