4Q sales rise 2%, Dillard’s reports

Revenue gained 1.5% in fiscal ’18

Dillard’s Inc.’s samestore sales rose 2 percent for both the fourth quarter and fiscal 2018, the Little Rock-based department store chain reported Monday. Revenue grew 1.5 percent for the fiscal year that ended February 2, 2019.

For the quarter, the company posted net income of $85.1 million, or $3.22 per share, for the quarter, down from $157.6 million, or $5.55 per share, in the same period a year ago. Revenue dropped 4.8 percent to $2 billion.

Results fell short of the $2.76 per share earnings expected by analysts polled by Thomson Reuters, on anticipated revenue of $2.08 billion.

However, figures for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2017 include a tax benefit of about $77.4 million, or $2.73 per share, related to the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, the company said in a news release.

For the fiscal year, Dillard’s posted net income of $170.3 million, or $6.23 per share, compared to $221.3 million, or $7.51 per share for the fiscal year that ended Feb. 3, 2018. Profits included $2.9 million, or 11 cents per share, in tax benefits related to additional

federal tax credits and an update of the amounts recorded for the effects of the 2017 tax cuts.

Fiscal 2018 revenue rose 1.5 percent to $6.36 billion. Net sales for Dillard’s includes the operations of CDI Contractors LLC as well as merchandise sales.

Dillard’s Chief Executive Officer William T. Dillard II said in the release that the fiscal year’s 2 percent sales growth at stores open at least a year, or samestore sales, reflected positive sales in all four quarters. Samestore sales are considered a key indicator of a retailer’s health.

“For the year, we held retail gross margin and operating expenses flat as a percent of sales,” he said.

The company returned $139 million to shareholders during the year through share repurchases and dividends, Dillard said.

Dillard’s posted its earnings after the markets closed Monday. Dillard’s shares rose 92 cents, or 1.4 percent to close at $66.47 on the New York Stock Exchange. The shares rose more than 9 percent in extended trading Monday.

Its shares have traded between $55.73 and $98.75 in the past year.