Dillard’s Q1 net income rises 58% over year ago

Dillard’s Inc. reported first quarter net income of $251.1 million, or $13.68 per share, on sales revenue of $1.612 billion. One year ago, the Little Rock-based department store and online merchandiser reported net income of $158.2 million, or $7.25 per share, on sales of $1.329 billion.

Same store sales rose 23% compared to the year-ago quarter.

“Our customer responded well to our merchandise in the first quarter producing a 23% increase in same-store sales. From this strong sell through, we reported a record high retail gross margin of 47.3% leading to net income of $251 million or $13.68 per share. We ended the quarter with $862 million in cash after share repurchases totaling $187 million,” said CEO William T. Dillard, II.

Other first quarter highlights included:

• Retail gross margin of 47.3% of sales compared to 42.6% of sales;
• Operating expenses were $400.8 million (24.9% of sales) compared to $336.6 million (25.3% of sales);
• Cash flow provided by operations of $365.2 million compared to $302.4 million; and
• Ending cash of $862.2 million compared to $615.9 million.

Dillard’s officials said the improvement in gross margin was due to “positive customer response” to the company’s merchandise assortment combined with continued inventory management leading to decreased markdowns in the first quarter of 2022.

The company operates 251 Dillard’s locations and 29 clearance centers spanning 29 states.

Shares of Dillard’s opened trading on Friday at $323.92, up 10% over the previous day’s close. The company’s stock has traded between a low of $107.52 per share and a high of $416.71 per share over the last 52 weeks.