Dillard's Sees Q2 Income Decline, But Beats Wall Street Estimate

Earlier summer results came up short of expectations at Dillard's but not those of Wall Street. The company reported net income for the second quarter ended August 1 of $29.9 million, or 75 cents per share, versus $34.5 million, or 80 cents per share, for the year-ago period.

Dillard's beat a Thomson Reuters analyst average earnings per share estimate by three cents.

Comparable stores increased 1% in the quarter year over year. Net sales were $1.51 billion versus $1.48 billion for last year's quarter, while total merchandise sales, which exclude revenues generated by the company's construction business, were $1.47 billion versus $1.46 billion in the 2014 period.

According to Dillard's, sales trends were strongest in shoes followed by juniors' and children's apparel but weak in home and furniture. As regards national distribution, sales trends were strongest in the Central region followed by the East and West regions, respectively, the company noted.

"While we achieved positive comparable store sales, we were disappointed with our overall performance compared to the prior year," said Dillard's CEO William Dillard, II. "However, from our strong cash position, we returned $208 million to shareholders under our share repurchase program."

As of August 1, Dillard's operated 272 department stores and 25 clearance centers in 29 states as well as an e-commerce operation at dillards.com.