Stein Mart saw its comps slide in a soft first quarter.
In the first quarter, Stein Mart recorded net income of $3.7 million, or eight cents per diluted share, compared to $13.3 million, or 29 cents per diluted share, in the quarter a year previous.
The company stated that income tax expense for the first quarter included $1.1 million, or two cents per diluted share, of higher expense related to the new accounting standard on stock compensation.
Adjusted, Stein Mart diluted earnings per share fell five cents short of a MarketBeat published analyst average estimate.
Total sales slipped 5.2% to $337.3 million as comparable store sales decreased 7.6%, the company reported.
Hunt Hawkins, Stein Mart CEO, said, “We continue to experience softer than planned store traffic and sales. As a result, markdowns were significantly higher for the quarter despite our focus on inventory management. Given the uncertain retail environment, we are being more conservative planning fall, keeping a higher percentage of our buying in reserve to opportunistically take advantage of any sales upside. We expect to see additional inventory reductions as the year progresses.”
