Stage Stores, Inc (SSI) swung to a net loss for the quarter ended Jan. 28, 2017. The company has made a net loss of $6.84 million, or $ 0.25 a share in the quarter, against a net profit of $20.98 million, or $0.71 a share in the last year period. On the other hand, adjusted net income for the quarter stood at $5,667 million, or $0.20 a share compared with $26,835 million or $0.91 a share, a year ago. Revenue during the quarter dropped 9.59 percent to $454.44 million from $502.63 million in the previous year period. Gross margin for the quarter contracted 848 basis points over the previous year period to 19.56 percent. Operating margin for the quarter stood at negative 1.56 percent as compared to a positive 6.94 percent for the previous year period.
Operating loss for the quarter was $7.08 million, compared with an operating income of $34.88 million in the previous year period.
Michael Glazer, President and Chief Executive Officer commented, “Our fourth quarter adjusted earnings reflect continued challenges in our oil impacted and border states, as well as the overall soft retail environment. Weak traffic led to heightened promotional activity and gross margin pressure in the quarter, yet we are pleased to end 2016 with inventory levels that are 6% lower than last year. In addition, our direct-to-consumer business grew at a double digit rate as we enhanced our customers’ online experience.”
For fiscal year 2017, Stage Stores, Inc projects revenue to be in the range of $1,330 million to $1,385 million and the company forecasts diluted earnings per share to be in the range of $0.95 to $1.55.
Operating cash flow improves significantly
Stage Stores, Inc has generated cash of $84.28 million from operating activities during the year, up 109.14 percent or $43.98 million, when compared with the last year. The company has spent $73.08 million cash to meet investing activities during the year as against cash outgo of $90.98 million in the last year. It has incurred net capital expenditure of $73.08 million on net basis during the year, down 19.67 percent or $17.90 million from year ago.
The company has spent $13.89 million cash to carry out financing activities during the year as against cash inflow of $50 million in the last year period.
Cash and cash equivalents stood at $13.80 million as on Jan. 28, 2017, down 16.28 percent or $2.68 million from $16.49 million on Jan. 30, 2016.
Working capital declines
Stage Stores, Inc has witnessed a decline in the working capital over the last year. It stood at $296.09 million as at Jan. 28, 2017, down 14.15 percent or $48.79 million from $344.88 million on Jan. 30, 2016. Current ratio was at 2.76 as on Jan. 28, 2017, down from 3.21 on Jan. 30, 2016.
Days inventory outstanding has decreased to 51 days for the quarter compared with 55 days for the previous year period. At the same time, days payable outstanding went up to 13 days for the quarter from 11 for the same period last year.
Debt remains almost stable
Stage Stores, Inc has witnessed an increase in total debt over the last one year. It stood at $163.75 million as on Jan. 28, 2017, up 0.54 percent or $0.87 million from $162.88 million on Jan. 30, 2016. Total debt was 20.81 percent of total assets as on Jan. 28, 2017, compared with 19.20 percent on Jan. 30, 2016. Debt to equity ratio was at 0.43 as on Jan. 28, 2017, up from 0.38 as on Jan. 30, 2016. 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
