Net income for the thirteen weeks ended January 31, 2015 at The Children's Place, Inc, a pure-play children's specialty apparel retailer in North America was up from same period of previous year.
Net income for the reporting quarter stood at $17.0 million, or $0.79 per diluted share compared to net income of $15.7 million, or $0.69 per diluted share, in the corresponding quarter of the previous year.
Adjusted net income amounted to $20.2 million, or $0.94 per diluted share as against $21.8 million, or $0.96 per diluted share, in the fourth quarter last year.
Net sales totaled to $479.2 million in the fourth quarter of 2014, which included the negative impact of approximately $4.6 million from currency exchange rate fluctuations.
This compares tnet sales of $467.5 million for the fourth quarter of 2013. Comparable retail sales increased 3.7 per cent year over year for the fourth quarter 2014.
Gross profit in the quarter under review was $164.8 million as against $164.3 million in the fourth quarter of 2013.
Adjusted gross profit reached $164.4 million compared to $166.1 million in the prior year quarter and declined 120 basis points to 34.3 per cent of sales as a result of merchandise margin deleverage.
Selling, general and administrative expenses were $123.7 million in the fourth quarter of 2014 compared to $118.7 million in the fourth quarter of 2013.
Adjusted SG&A was $120.1 million as against adjusted SG&A of $118.8 million in the fourth quarter last year; $1.3 million higher than the prior year period, and leveraged 30 basis points to 25.1 per cent of sales.
In the reporting quarter, operating income was $20.7 million, compared to $21.9 million in the fourth quarter of 2013.
Adjusted operating income in the fourth quarter of 2014 was $28.8 million, down from $31.3 million in the previous year’s fourth quarter and de-leveraged 70 basis points to 6.0 per cent of sales.
During the quarter, the retailer recorded charges of $8.1 million primarily for asset impairment charges as a result of its fleet optimisation initiative and severance associated with corporate restructuring.
Consistent with its store fleet optimisation initiative, the retailer opened one store and closed 21 during the fourth quarter of 2014.
The Company ended the year with 1,097 stores and square footage of 5.129 million, down 1.5 per cent compared to the prior year.
The retailer’s international franchise partners opened 5 stores in the fourth quarter, and the Company ended the year with 72 international franchise stores.
“Our performance was consistent across product categories and regions during the quarter," president and chief executive officer, Jane Elfers said.
Looking ahead to 2015, The Children’s Place expects to see results from its investments in seamless retail and state of the art planning and allocation systems in the second half of this year.