For the fiscal fourth quarter ended January 28, Macy’s recorded company net income of $475 million, or $1.54 per diluted share, versus $544 million, or $1.73 per diluted share, in the year-prior period.
Adjusted earnings per diluted share were $2.02 versus $2.09 for the 2015 fourth quarter, the company reported. Macy’s beat a MarketBeat published analyst average earnings per diluted share estimate of $1.95 for the quarter.
Comparable sales declined 2.1% overall and 2.7% on an owned-store basis in the quarter, Macy’s stated. Macy’s posted net sales of $8.52 billion versus $8.87 billion in the year-before quarter. Operating income was $815 million compared with $936 million in the year-previous quarter.
For the full fiscal year, the company recorded net income of $619 million, or $1.99 per diluted share, versus $1.07 billion, or $3.22 per diluted share, in the quarter a year earlier. Adjusted earnings per diluted share were $3.11 versus $3.77 in the 2015 fiscal year, the company reported.
Comparable sales declined 2.9% overall and 3.5% on an owned-store basis in the fiscal year, Macy’s stated. Macy’s posted net sales of $25.78 billion versus $27.08 in the fiscal year before. Operating income was $1.32 billion compared with $2.04 billion in the year previous.
Terry Lundgren, Macy’s chairman and CEO, said, “While 2016 was not the year we expected, we made significant progress on key initiatives that are starting to bear fruit. These include continued improvement in our digital platforms, the rollout of our new approach to fine jewelry and women’s shoes, an increase in exclusive merchandise, and the refinement of our clearance and off-price strategy. We also took a big step forward in rightsizing our physical footprint and restructuring our entire organization. The combination of these initiatives will help us gain market share, return to growth and drive enhanced value for our shareholders over time,”
In looking forward, Lundgren said, “We will be investing for the future in 2017. Looking at the continued challenges in the retail environment and changing consumer shopping behaviors, we know we must evolve our strategy and execute faster. Key to this is enhancing the customer experience in our stores where we are developing and testing concepts that feature new merchandise and entertainment options alongside enhanced technology to make shopping simpler. Additional initiatives that we believe will improve sales trends in 2017 include continued omnichannel improvements, an updated marketing strategy and a simplified pricing structure.
“We continued to make progress on the execution of our real estate strategy in the fourth quarter of 2016 and will carry that momentum into 2017. Overall, real estate transactions in fiscal 2016 generated cash proceeds of approximately $675 million, which is helping to fund continued reinvestment in the business. We also began work on deriving value from our partnership with Brookfield Asset Management. We are excited by the potential of our real estate strategy, and in 2017, we will focus on advancing the Brookfield partnership and continuing to monetize the locations that we have closed or plan to close. We are also developing strategies that will help create value for Herald Square while making the store an even more vibrant retail experience.”
