For the fourth quarter ended January 28, Stein Mart posted a net loss of $4.9 million, or 11 cents per diluted share, versus net income of $6.3 million, or 13 cents per diluted share, in the year-earlier quarter.
An analyst average estimate published by MarketBeat called for a per diluted share loss of five cents.
Comparable store sales slipped 5.5%. Net sales were $385.5 million as compared with $394.1 million in the year-prior quarter.
For the full fiscal year, net income was $401,000, or one cent per diluted share, versus $23.7 million, or 51 cents per diluted share, in the year earlier. Comps decreased 3.8%. Net sales were $1.36 billion in line with $1.36 billion in the prior year.
“Our fourth quarter results were disappointing as we continued to work through higher than desired inventory levels and the impact of changes to marketing, merchandising and promotions implemented during the third quarter,” said Hunt Hawkins, Stein Mart CEO. “We were aggressive with our promotions and markdowns to clear fall merchandise which severely impacted the quarter’s gross profit rate and earnings. With our new executive leadership now in place, 2017 will be a year of transition as we refine and organize around our strategies. Lessons learned from last year have us keenly focused on changes we need to make to our business to significantly improve management of our inventories and increase sales productivity. Everything we do will be aimed at our loyal customer and support our brand and value messaging in this continuing difficult retail environment.”
