The Bon-Ton Stores, Inc. (BONT) saw its loss narrow to $31.58 million, or $1.58 a share for the quarter ended Oct. 29, 2016. In the previous year period, the company reported a loss of $33.99 million, or $1.72 a share. Revenue during the quarter dropped 5.25 percent to $607.28 million from $640.90 million in the previous year period. Gross margin for the quarter expanded 171 basis points over the previous year period to 36.95 percent. Operating margin for the quarter stood at negative 2.12 percent as compared to a negative 2.86 percent for the previous year period.
Operating loss for the quarter was $12.88 million, compared with an operating loss of $18.34 million in the previous year period.
However, the adjusted EBITDA for the quarter stood at $10.57 million compared with $5.69 million in the prior year period. At the same time, adjusted EBITDA margin improved 85 basis points in the quarter to 1.74 percent from 0.89 percent in the last year period.
Kathryn Bufano, president and chief executive officer, commented, "Although our third quarter sales performance was impacted by warm weather in addition to soft traffic trends, we made progress on a number of our strategic initiatives. We delivered sales gains in several key categories as well as double digit growth in our omnichannel business and accelerated growth on our mobile site. In addition, we increased our gross margin rate by 170 basis points as a result of improved merchandise margin and reduced delivery costs. We also continued to execute against our cost savings initiatives and reduced inventory by 4.9%."
For fiscal year 2016, The Bon-Ton Stores, Inc. forecasts net loss to be in the range of $51 million to $41 million. The company projects diluted earnings per share to be in the range of $2.04 to $2.54.
Debt comes down marginally
The Bon-Ton Stores, Inc. has recorded a decline in total debt over the last one year. It stood at $1,112.20 million as on Oct. 29, 2016, down 1.76 percent or $19.89 million from $1,132.09 million on Oct. 31, 2015. Total debt was 64.13 percent of total assets as on Oct. 29, 2016, compared with 60.69 percent on Oct. 31, 2015. Disclaimer: Please note that this is an auto-generated article. IRIS does not guarantee the accuracy, adequacy or completeness of any information and is not responsible for any errors or omissions or for the results obtained from the use of such information. IRIS especially states that it has no financial liability whatsoever to any user on account of the use of information provided on its website. For queries contact: editor@irisindia.net
