The Cato Corporation Reports Sales Results for the Four Weeks and First Quarter Ended May 4, 2013; Provides Earnings Guidance for the First Quarter of 2013; Opens Two Stores and Relocates One Store
May 09, 2013 at 12:00 pm
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The Cato Corporation reported sales results for the four weeks and first quarter ended May 4, 2013. For the four weeks, the company's sales were $77.0 million, a 9% decrease from sales of $84.9 million for the four weeks ended April 28, 2012. Same-store sales increased 1% for the month.
Sales for the first quarter ended May 4, 2013 were $267.2 million, a 2% decrease from sales of $272.8 million for the first quarter ended April 28, 2012. Same-store sales for the first quarter decreased 5%. The shift of Easter from early April last year to late March 2013 favorably impacted April sales, while March sales were unfavorably impacted. Because of this shift, the best measure for performance is the combined sales for the two months, which decreased 3% overall and were down 6% to the prior year on a same-store basis.
The company now expects first quarter earnings per diluted share will be in the range of $1.02 to $1.04 versus $1.09 last year, a decrease of 6% to 5% from last year.
During the month of April, the company opened two stores and relocated one store. New stores opened in Maplewood, MO and Wichita, KS and the relocated store was in Monroeville, AL. As of May 4, 2013, the company operated 1,307 stores in 31 states, compared to 1,293 stores in 31 states as of April 28, 2012.
The Cato Corporation is a fashion specialty retailer. The Company operates through two segments: the operation of a fashion specialty stores segment (Retail Segment) and a credit card segment (Credit Segment). The Company's merchandise lines include dressy, career, and casual sportswear, dresses, coats, shoes, lingerie, costume jewelry, handbags, men's wear and lines for kids and infants. The apparel specialty stores operate under the names Cato, Cato Fashions, Cato Plus, Its Fashion, Its Fashion Metro and Versona, including e-commerce websites. The Versona brand stores and e-commerce Website offer quality fashion apparel items, jewelry and accessories at values every day. The Company offers its own credit cards to its customers and all credit authorizations, payment processing and collection efforts are performed by a wholly owned subsidiary of the Company. It operates approximately 1,178 fashion specialty stores in 31 states, principally in the southeastern United States.
The Cato Corporation Reports Sales Results for the Four Weeks and First Quarter Ended May 4, 2013; Provides Earnings Guidance for the First Quarter of 2013; Opens Two Stores and Relocates One Store