Williams-Sonoma reported a slight increase in comparable sales and net revenues, asserting that it has made progress in the second quarter despite a soft retail environment and cautious consumer.
For the second quarter ended July 31, Williams-Sonoma posted net earnings of $51.8 million, or 58 cents per diluted share, a slight drop versus $53.7 million, or 58 cents per diluted share, in the year-prior period. Earnings per diluted share matched an analyst average estimate published by MarketBeat.
Comparable sales increased by 0.6%. By banner, comps were down 4.8% at Pottery Barn, flat at Williams-Sonoma, up 15.8% at West Elm, up 0.1% at Pottery Barn Kids and down 5.2% at PBteen.
Net revenues were $1.16 billion versus $1.13 billion in the year-earlier quarter. E-commerce represented 51.7% of net revenues in the latest complete quarter. Operating income was $83.3 million, basically flat when compared with the quarter a year before.
“Our second quarter results reflect the strength of our portfolio of brands, our balanced multi-channel model, our successful growth initiatives and a relentless focus on operational improvements,” said Laura Alber, Williams-Sonoma president and CEO. “We saw substantial improvements across all of our supply chain and inventory initiatives which helped elevate our customer service levels, reduce costs and drive down merchandise inventories.
She added, “Despite the progress that we have made against our strategic initiatives, the overall retail environment has softened, and we are being impacted by a more cautious consumer. As a result, we have revised our outlook for the remainder of the year to reflect this change in trend. We remain focused on what we can control to drive growth and continuous improvements in our operations, including strengthening and growing our brands, further differentiating our product offering, innovating our marketing and digital strategies and enhancing the retail experience.”
Williams-Sonoma operates 626 stores across its retail banners.
