CINCINNATI--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Macy’s, Inc. (NYSE:M) today announced that its comparable sales on an owned plus licensed basis declined by 4.7 percent in the months of November and December 2015 combined, compared with the same period last year.
On an owned basis, comparable sales declined by 5.2 percent in the combined November/December period.
(Editor’s Note: Macy’s, Inc. this afternoon also issued a separate news release outlining cost efficiencies and listing upcoming store closings.)
“The holiday selling season was challenging, as experienced throughout 2015 by much of the retailing industry. In the November/December period, we were particularly disadvantaged by the historically warm weather in northern climate zones where both Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s are especially well-represented. About 80 percent of our company’s year-over-year declines in comparable sales can be attributed to shortfalls in cold-weather goods such as coats, sweaters, boots, hats, gloves and scarves. We also continued to feel the impact of lower spending by international tourists as the value of the dollar remained strong,” said Terry J. Lundgren, Macy’s, Inc. chairman and chief executive officer.
“That said, we are buoyed by a very strong performance in our digital business, with continued double-digit increases in online sales. In November/December, we filled nearly 17 million online orders at macys.com and bloomingdales.com – a new record for our company and an increase of about 25 percent over last year – based on significant new fulfillment capacity, site functionality and aggressive digital marketing. This validates the strength of our omnichannel strategy and related investments which we made over the past decade and will continue into the future,” Lundgren said.
Please see the last page of this news release for important information regarding the calculation of the company’s comparable sales on an owned basis and comparable sales on an owned plus licensed basis.
Guidance
Macy’s, Inc. is not expecting a major change in sales trend in January and expects a comparable sales decline on an owned plus licensed basis in the fourth quarter of 2015 to approximate the 4.7 percent decline in November/December (from previous guidance of down between 2 percent and 3 percent for the fourth quarter). This calculates to guidance for comparable sales on an owned plus licensed basis in the full-year 2015 to decline by approximately 2.7 percent (from previous guidance of down 1.8 percent to 2.2 percent).
The decline in fourth quarter comparable sales on an owned basis is expected to be approximately 50 basis points greater than on an owned plus licensed basis.
Earnings per diluted share for the full-year 2015 now are expected in the range of $3.85 to $3.90, excluding expenses related to cost efficiencies announced today and asset impairment charges associated primarily with spring 2016 store closings. This compares with previous guidance in the range of $4.20 to $4.30. Updated annual guidance calculates to guidance for fourth quarter earnings of $2.18 to $2.23 per diluted share, excluding charges associated with cost efficiencies and store closings. This compares with previous guidance for earnings per diluted share of $2.54 to $2.64 in the fourth quarter. Earnings guidance for 2015 includes an expected $250 million gain on the sale of real estate in downtown Brooklyn.
Fourth Quarter Announcement
Macy’s, Inc. is scheduled to report fourth quarter sales and earnings on Tuesday, Feb. 23, 2016. Additional detail on financial performance will be provided at that time. The company will webcast a call with financial analysts and investors at 9 a.m. ET on Feb. 23. Macy’s, Inc.’s webcast is accessible to the media and general public via the company's website at www.macysinc.com. Analysts and investors may call in on 1-888-806-6224, passcode 9176608. A replay of the conference call can be accessed on the website or by calling 1-888-203-1112 (same passcode) about two hours after the conclusion of the call.
Macy’s, Inc., with corporate offices in Cincinnati and New York, is one of the nation’s premier retailers, with fiscal 2014 sales of $28.015 billion. The company operates about 900 stores in 45 states, the District of Columbia, Guam and Puerto Rico under the names of Macy’s, Bloomingdale’s, Bloomingdale’s Outlet, Macy’s Backstage and Bluemercury, as well as the macys.com, bloomingdales.com and bluemercury.com websites. Bloomingdale’s in Dubai is operated by Al Tayer Group LLC under a license agreement.
All statements in this press release that are not statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements are based upon the current beliefs and expectations of Macy’s management and are subject to significant risks and uncertainties. Actual results could differ materially from those expressed in or implied by the forward-looking statements contained in this release because of a variety of factors, including conditions to, or changes in the timing of, proposed transactions, prevailing interest rates and non-recurring charges, competitive pressures from specialty stores, general merchandise stores, off-price and discount stores, manufacturers’ outlets, the Internet, mail-order catalogs and television shopping and general consumer spending levels, including the impact of the availability and level of consumer debt, the effect of weather and other factors identified in documents filed by the company with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
(Note: additional information on Macy’s, Inc., including past news releases, is available at www.macysinc.com/pressroom)
MACY’S, INC.
Important Information Regarding Non-GAAP Financial Measures
(All amounts in millions except percentages)
The Company reports its financial results in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP). However, management believes that certain non-GAAP financial measures provide users of the Company's financial information with additional useful information in evaluating operating performance. See the table below for supplemental financial data and a corresponding reconciliation to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures. This non-GAAP financial measure should be viewed as supplementing, and not as an alternative or substitute for, the Company's financial results prepared in accordance with GAAP. Certain of the items that may be excluded or included in this non-GAAP financial measure may be significant items that could impact the Company's financial position, results of operations and cash flows and should therefore be considered in assessing the Company's actual financial condition and performance. Additionally, the amounts received by the Company on account of sales of departments licensed to third parties are limited to commissions received on such sales. The methods used by the Company to calculate its non-GAAP financial measures may differ significantly from methods used by other companies to compute similar measures. As a result, any non-GAAP financial measures presented herein may not be comparable to similar measures provided by other companies.
Macy's, Inc. believes that providing changes in comparable sales on an owned plus licensed basis, which includes the impact of growth in comparable sales of departments licensed to third parties supplementally to its results of operations calculated in accordance with GAAP assists in evaluating the Company's ability to generate sales growth, whether through owned businesses or departments licensed to third parties, on a comparable basis, and in evaluating the impact of changes in the manner in which certain departments are operated.
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9 Weeks |
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| Decrease in comparable sales on an owned basis (Note 1) |
(5.2)% |
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Impact of growth in comparable sales of departments licensed to third parties (Note 2) |
0.5 % | ||
| Decrease in comparable sales on an owned plus licensed basis | (4.7)% |
Notes:
| (1) | Represents the period-to-period change in net sales from stores in operation throughout the year presented and the immediately preceding year and all online sales, excluding commissions from departments licensed to third parties. | |
| (2) | Represents the impact of including the sales of departments licensed to third parties occurring in stores in operation throughout the year presented and the immediately preceding year and via the Internet in the calculation of comparable sales. The Company licenses third parties to operate certain departments in its stores and online and receives commissions from these third parties based on a percentage of their net sales. In its financial statements prepared in conformity with GAAP, the Company includes these commissions (rather than sales of the departments licensed to third parties) in its net sales. The Company does not, however, include any amounts in respect of licensed department sales (or any commissions earned on such sales) in its comparable sales in accordance with GAAP (i.e. on an owned basis). The Company believes that the amounts of commissions earned on sales of departments licensed to third parties are not material to its results of operations for the periods presented. |
