Dillard’s sees slower sales, lower Q1 profit
by May 11, 2023 7:12 am 1,042 views
Dillard’s, Inc. reported Thursday (May 12) a solid, but lower, first quarter profit in part due to slower sales.
For the quarter ending April 29, 2023, the Little Rock-based mall and online retailer reported revenue of $1.584 billion and net income of $201.5 million. Quarterly earnings per share was $11.85.
One year ago, Dillard’s reported net income of $251.1 million on revenue of $1.612 billion. Quarterly earnings per share was $13.68.
“We had a good quarter against a tough comparison. We achieved retail gross margin of 45.6% on a sales decrease of 4% as customer activity declined in the back half of the quarter. We repurchased $113.8 million of stock and still had $955 million in cash and short-term investments remaining,” said Dillard’s Chief Executive Officer William T. Dillard.
Other highlights of the first quarter compared to a year ago included:
- Total retail sales decreased 4%
- Comparable store sales decreased 4%
- Retail gross margin of 45.6% of sales compared to 47.3% of sales
- Ending inventory increase of 3%
The retailer noted a decline in customer activity in the back half of the quarter. Cosmetics was the strongest performing category followed by shoes and ladies’ apparel. Ladies’ accessories and lingerie and juniors’ and children’s apparel were the weakest categories.
Dillard’s operates 247 store locations and 27 clearance centers in 29 states and an Internet store at dillards.com.
Shares of Dillard’s (NYSE:DDS) closed trading Wednesday at $288.10. The company’s stock has traded between a low of $193.00 and a high of $417.86 over the past 52 weeks.