hhgregg, Inc (HGG) Expects Q1 adh.-Loss; Comps Fell 9.9%

hhgregg, Inc. (NYSE: HGG) today announced preliminary sales and earnings results for the fourth fiscal quarter and fiscal year ended March 31, 2014. The Company also announced details of its fourth fiscal quarter and year-end earnings conference call.

For the fourth fiscal quarter ended March 31, 2014, the Company estimates net sales to be approximately $538.3 million, a decrease of approximately 9.9% as compared to net sales of $597.6 million reported for the fourth fiscal quarter of 2013. (The Street sees sales of $552.1 million.) Fourth fiscal quarter comparable store sales are estimated to have decreased approximately 9.9%, with the appliance category expected to have increased approximately 0.5%, the consumer electronic category expected to have decreased approximately 18.9%, the computing and wireless category expected to have decreased approximately 22.6%, and the home products category expected to have decreased approximately 0.4%. Net loss per diluted share for the fourth fiscal quarter is expected to be $0.25. The net loss includes approximately $4.0 million of pre-tax expenses related to the expected write down of inventory for the planned exit from the contract-based mobile phone business and for the write-off of store fixtures associated with the Company’s changing product mix. Excluding these non-recurring expenses, adjusted net loss per diluted share is expected to be $0.17 for the fourth fiscal quarter of 2014 compared to the prior year’s fourth quarter adjusted net income per diluted share of $0.31. (The consensus is at EPS of $0.10.) Historically, the contract-based mobile phone business negatively impacted the Company’s overall operating profitability. The decision to exit this business better aligns with management’s long-term strategic initiatives.

For the fiscal year ended March 31, 2014, the Company expects to report net sales of approximately $2.3 billion and expects net income per diluted share of $0.01. Adjusted net income per diluted share, which excludes $4.0 million of pre-tax expenses related to the expected write down of inventory and the write off of associated signage and fixtures for the planned exit from the contract-based mobile phone business and for the write-off of store fixtures associated with the Company’s changing product mix is expected to be $0.09 compared to prior year adjusted net income per diluted share of $0.74.

Dennis May, President and CEO, commented, “We faced a number of headwinds during the quarter, which led to disappointing financial results. Extreme weather in January, February and the beginning of March negatively impacted traffic and operating performance in the majority of our stores, particularly those located in the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic regions, where the weather was the most severe. While we are disappointed in our preliminary results, we remain focused on executing our strategic initiatives to transform the business by refining our merchandise assortment, improving our customer shopping experience, expanding our credit offerings and enhancing our service capabilities.

“As we look forward, we continue to be pleased with the progress we have made in the appliance category. This quarter marks our 11th consecutive quarter of comparable store increases in appliances. In addition, we believe the video industry will have a stronger innovation cycle in the coming year. This should drive higher ASPs in the category as consumer preference shifts towards new products such as Ultra HD TV’s and larger screen sizes. This renewed interest in the category should benefit us in future quarters. We also believe that our strategic decision to transition from one furniture brand to five brands will strengthen our assortment of merchandise in the home products category, providing our customers with an enhanced shopping experience. We expect to have these new products in our stores by early summer.”

The Company had approximately $48.2 million of cash as of March 31, 2014 and no borrowings under its revolving credit facility.

All figures in this release are preliminary and remain subject to the completion of normal quarter-end and year-end accounting procedures and adjustments, which could result in changes to these preliminary results. hhgregg will provide additional information regarding its quarterly and fiscal year end results when it reports its fourth fiscal quarter and fiscal year-end results on May 20, 2014.

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