Finance & Capital Management

Washington — The National Retail Federation wasted no time responding to a ruling by the National Labor Relations board concerning the redefinition of the concept of joint employees.

NRF and other business groups are concerned that the redefinition  could be used to make large businesses and franchisors responsible for the actions of subcontractors or local franchisees even when they do not exercise direct control over those companies’ employees.

New York — Guess Inc. cited the negative impact of foreign currency fluctuations on earnings and sales in a difficult second quarter of fiscal 2016. Net earnings totaled $18.3 million, a 17% decrease compared to $22 million for the second quarter of fiscal 2015.

Total net revenue decreased 10%, from $608.6 million to $546.3 million. Same-store sales, including e-commerce, dropped 2.8% in the United States and Canada. In one bright spot, top-line e-commerce sales grew 20%.

Irvine, Calif. — Tilly’s Inc. missed Wall Street expectations by falling profit and increasing revenue in a mixed second quarter of fiscal 2015. Net income fell 54%, from $1.3 million to $600,000, with a tax settlement hindering profitability.

Total net sales fared better, rising 6%, from $123 million to $130 million. Same-store sales — including e-commerce — climbed 0.5%.

Despite missing Wall Street forecasts and declining profit, President and CEO Daniel Griesmer said he was pleased with results for the quarter.

Memphis —  Fred’s Inc. remained unprofitable for its fifth consecutive quarter as pharmacy continued to weigh the chain down.

Fred’s reported a bigger-than-expected net loss of $4.9 million in the second quarter, down from $16.4 million for the same period last year. 

Reductions in the percent of revenue represented by cost of goods sold and selling, general and administrative expenses helped shrink net loss.

Net sales grew 10%, from $491.18 million to $546.08 million, while same-store sales grew 0.9%.

Canton, Mass. — Specialty men’s retailer Destination XL Inc. reported Thursday that it shrank its net loss in the second quarter.

The company also raised its potential store count from 250 to 400. As a result, the retailer expects to open 30 to 40 DXL stores per year through fiscal 2020.

During fiscal 2015, Destination XL plans to open approximately 30 DXL retail and eight DXL outlet stores and close approximately 41 Casual Male XL and three Rochester clothing stores.

Burlington, N.J. — Burlington Stores Inc. is in the black.

The company swung to a net income of $10.9 million in the second quarter of fiscal 2015 from a net loss of $6.47 million the same quarter of last year. Decreases in stock option and interest expenses, as well as some impairment charges, helped bring Burlington to profitability.

Net sales rose 10% to $1.14 billion from $1.04 billion, while same-store sales grew 5.6%.

Goodlettsville, Tenn. — Dollar General posted better-than-expected earnings for the second quarter, but came up short on sales, even amid strong demand for tobacco products and other consumables.

The discounter reiterated plans to open approximately 730 stores in 2015, and relocate or remodel 875 units. To date, the company is on track with its pipeline development to accelerate new store openings to 7% square footage growth in 2016.

While sales at Chico’s appear to be improving, the specialty retailer's turnaround plan also includes selling off one of its divisions.

As Amazon.com deals with the fallout from a New York Times article over working conditions, another media outlet reports the retailer is scaling back its consumer device division and laying off dozens of employees in its hardware development center.

The division, called Lab126, last year released a flurry of 10 devices, including a television set-top box, the Echo and a wand for scanning bar codes at home, according to the Wall Street Journal.