Citi Trends (CTRN) Reports Q4 EPS of $0.59, Revenues Beat, Comp. Sales Up 0.2%; Offers Q1 & FY19 EPS Guidance Above Consensus

Citi Trends (NASDAQ: CTRN) reported Q4 EPS of $0.59, versus $0.50 reported last year. Revenue for the quarter came in at $201.2 million versus the consensus estimate of $175.36 million.

• Full year earnings per diluted share up 59%, or 30% on an adjusted basis*
• Comparable store sales up 0.2% in Q4; up 1.6% for the year
• Executed on capital return program, returning $45 million to shareholders in fiscal 2018

Bruce Smith, Chief Executive Officer, commented, “I am pleased that we registered comparable store sales increases in every quarter of fiscal 2018, delivered a full year comparable store sales increase of 1.6%, and tightly managed expenses, leading to an increase in earnings despite a fashion miss during the second half of the year. During fiscal 2018, we made significant progress on a number of strategic initiatives, including the completed roll-out of our store-level merchandise planning system and the successful opening of 19 new stores. Also, we continued to execute our capital return program by returning $45 million to our shareholders during 2018 in the form of share repurchases and dividends. Since the initiation of the program in 2015, we have returned $94 million to our shareholders.”

Smith further noted, “As we enter 2019, we are focused on a number of important initiatives, including a project designed to reduce freight costs and several areas of operating expenses, the implementation of a markdown optimization system planned for later in the year and the opening of our first store in a predominantly Hispanic market.”

GUIDANCE:

Citi Trends sees Q1 2019 EPS of $0.83-$0.87, versus the consensus of $0.56.

Citi Trends sees FY2019 EPS of $1.86-$1.95, versus the consensus of $1.85.

For earnings history and earnings-related data on Citi Trends (CTRN) click here.

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