The following is an article over at Market Watch (click here for the article in its entirety):J.Crew quarterly profit jumps on sales growthWell, looks like J.Crew is doing pretty, pretty good. That is great news for our favorite retailer!
By Drew FitzGerald
March 19, 2012
J.Crew Group Inc.'s fiscal fourth-quarter earnings soared as sharply higher sales and lower overhead costs helped cover the clothing retailer's debt costs.
J.Crew went private last year in a $3 billion acquisition by a group of investors including private-equity firms TPG Capital--a former owner of J.Crew--and Leonard Green & Partners LP. The move saddled the retailer with higher interest expenses.
Costs tied to the buyout have weighed on the company's results over the past year, often masking stronger sales in recent months.
For the quarter ended Jan. 28, J.Crew reported a profit of $15.1 million, compared with year-earlier profit of $4 million. The latest period included $25.1 million of net interest costs, compared with $528,000 a year earlier.
Revenue rose 13% to $530.9 million as same-store company sales--which include comparable-store sales, direct sales and shipping and handling revenue--grew 6.4%.
Gross margin widened to 37.8% from 37.4%, while overhead costs declined slightly.
Inventories reached $242.7 million, compared with $214.4 million a year ago.
For those interested (& available), there will be a conference call to discuss fourth quarter results. It is scheduled for tomorrow, March 20, 2012, at 11:00 AM EST. To listen, either call (877) 407-3982 or check out the live webcast at www.jcrew.com.
What are your thoughts on this latest news? Do you think J.Crew is "turning things around" now that they are private?
"lower overhead costs" translation "cheaper fabrics, cheap Chinese labor, Manmade lining and soles".
ReplyDeleteYes.
DeleteNone of those are actually overhead costs. Overhead excludes all costs related to direct labor, materials or admin costs.
DeleteGlad to know I did my part for the economy, lol. I will be listening to the call tomorrow. I find them interesting.
ReplyDeleteThis might explain the hike in prices quite suddenly. If they needed to pay interest costs and they were $25 million dollars, you'd have to make some big changes to meet those.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the heads up, Alexis! I want to listen in on this one.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the info. I know I did not help increase their sales very much but I did buy a few things:)
ReplyDeleteI believe I actually helped them lower their sales.
ReplyDelete