Dillard’s Retail Sales Surge By 73 Pct

Dillard’s, the apparel and home furnishing retailer, reported that total retail sales surged by 73 percent for the first quarter from the prior year. The firm runs 250 Dillard’s locations in addition to 31 clearance centers covering 29 states and an eCommerce store at dillards.com, according to a Thursday (May 13) announcement.

Dillard’s posted $158.2 million in net income, up from a $162 million net loss in the prior year. The company also reported $7.25 per share in net income, up from a $6.94 per share net loss in the prior year. It also reported a 42.7 percent retail gross margin, marking an improvement from a 12.8 percent retail gross margin the prior year.

However, Dillard’s reported that it had $336.6 million in operating expenses, which was higher than $290.4 million reported for the prior year.

The company also reported ending cash of $616 million, which was up significantly from $70 million the prior year.

“We are pleased to report record performances in gross margin and earnings per share. With strong cash flow, we accomplished $59 million in share repurchase while still ending the quarter with $616 million in cash,” Dillard’s Chief Executive Officer William T. Dillard, II said in the announcement.

Shares of Dillard’s were up more than 20 percent as of mid-morning on Friday (May 14).

Dillard’s total square footage as of May 1, 2021 was 47.9 million square feet, according to the company’s earnings announcement. The company also said that it “has closed and sold its Cortana Mall location in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.”

In separate recent earnings news, Canada Goose reported that total revenue soared by approximately 48 percent to $208.8 million in Q4 fiscal 2021 from $140.9 million in Q4 fiscal 2020.

In posting its financial results, the performance luxury apparel company reported that direct-to-consumer (D2C) revenue jumped by about 51 percent to $172.2 million in Q4 fiscal 2021 from $114.2 million in Q4 fiscal 2020.

Canada Goose President and CEO Dani Reiss said in an earnings announcement that the company “achieved our largest ever fourth quarter by revenue.”