PriceSmart (PSMT) Jan. Comps Decline 1.4%

PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ: PSMT) today announced that for the month of January 2019, net merchandise sales increased 0.3% to $244.3 million from $243.6 million in January a year earlier. Foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations impacted net merchandise sales negatively by $9.6 million or 3.9% versus the same prior year one-month period.

For the fiscal year to date, which includes the five months ended January 31, 2019, net merchandise sales increased 0.4% to $1,338.9 million from $1,333.1 million for the five months ended January 31, 2018. Foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations impacted net merchandise sales negatively by $40.4 million or 3.0% versus the same prior year five-month period.

There were 41 warehouse clubs in operation at January 31, 2019 and 40 warehouse clubs in operation at January 31, 2018.

For the four weeks ended January 27, 2019, comparable net merchandise sales for the 40 warehouse clubs open at least 13 ½ full months decreased 1.4% compared to the same four-week period last year. Foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations impacted comparable net merchandise sales negatively by $8.6 million or 3.9% versus the same prior year period.

For the twenty-one-week period ended January 27, 2019, comparable net merchandise sales decreased 1.3% compared to the comparable twenty-one-week period a year ago. Foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations impacted comparable net merchandise sales negatively by $37.7 million or 3.0% versus the same prior year period.

The Company reports comparable net merchandise sales on a "same week" basis with 13 weeks in each quarter beginning on a Monday and ending on a Sunday. The periods are established at the beginning of the fiscal year to provide as close a match as possible to the calendar month and quarter that is used for financial reporting purposes. This approach equalizes the number of weekend days and weekdays in each period for improved sales comparison, as we experience higher merchandise club sales on the weekends. Each of the warehouse clubs used in the calculations was open for at least 13 ½ calendar months before its results for the current period were compared with its results for the prior period.

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