Corporate Governance

In today’s news cycle, it’s become somewhat standard fare to read reports of a significant breach in the retail world. From Target to Neiman Marcus, UPS to eBay and even restaurants like P.F. Chang's and Dairy Queen, 2014 resulted in major retail breaches totaling 100 million credit cards and 313 million personal records. But it’s not just the big names that have targets on their backs; as Verizon’s 2015 Data Breach Investigations Report details: “the attack methods are becoming more varied, even against small businesses.”

Annapolis, Md. -- Roy Higgs International, LLC, a provider of architectural design services, is moving into a new studio in the commercial office complex on the Yacht Haven of Annapolis, Maryland, to accommodate its recent growth.

Founded in 2012, the firm provides architectural design services in the retail real estate industry — doubling its employee base from last year to 12 staff members. The move on Sept. 1 marks Roy Higgs Internationals’ third expansion in three years.
 

Framingham, Mass. – Staples Inc. met Wall Street expectations with declining profit in the second quarter of fiscal 2015. Costs related to restructuring and the pending acquisition of Office Depot drove net income down 56% to $36 million, from $82 million in the second quarter of the previous fiscal year.

Net sales fell 5% to $4.94 billion, from $5.22 billion. North American store closures and unfavorable foreign exchange rates pushed sales totals downward. Same-store sales in North America (including online) fell 3%.

Mooresville, N.C. – Lowe’s Companies Inc. missed Wall Street expectations for profit but beat the Street with revenue in a mixed second quarter of fiscal 2015. Net earnings totaled $1.13 billion, up 8% from $1.04 billion the same quarter a year earlier.

Lowe’s achieved its lower-than-expected profit increase by limiting growth of costs and expenses while beating expectations with net sales of $17.35 billion, up 4% from $16.6 billion. Same-store sales increased 4.3%.

Pittsburgh – American Eagle Outfitters Inc. flew high in the second quarter of fiscal 2015, surpassing Wall Street expectations for profit and revenue. AEO reported net income of $33.26 million, an almost six-fold increase from $5.81 million in the prior year period.

The growth pace of cost of sales and expenses was slower than that of sales, helping AEO report such a dramatic rise in profit. Operating income also significantly improved. Total net revenue increased 12% to $797 million from $711 million, aided by an 11% jump in same-store sales.

Lexington, Ky. – Papa John’s Pizza is getting ready for mobile communications. The pizza chain has selected the Red e App mobile communications platform to increase operational efficiency across its organization.

Red e App will give Papa John’s a dedicated channel to communicate and share files with corporate managers in more than 600 locations using a private, mobile-centric platform. Papa John’s is also planning to expand the service to franchise owners and operators in the future.

Minneapolis – Target Corp. exceeded Wall Street projections with net earnings of $753 million in the second quarter of fiscal 2015, a 221% increase from $234 million the same period the prior fiscal year. Declining selling, general and administrative (SG&A) expenses and loss from discontinued operations helped boost profits as sales climbed.

Target reported net sales of $17.4 billion, up 2.8% over the same period last year.

Lowe’s was hoping not to be outshined by Home Depot’s strong financial results, but hopes turned into missed opportunities Wednesday as Lowe's reported disappointing profit growth.

For the second quarter ended July 31, Lowe’s had earnings of $1.13 billion, up from $1.04 billion in the same quarter last year. On a diluted basis, earnings were $1.20 a share, 4 cents below analysts’ estimates. Home Depot reported a much higher profit on Tuesday.

Target’s better than expected second quarter profits, same store sales, rate of e-commerce growth and an increased full year forecast stood in sharp contrast to the disappointing results Walmart reported a day earlier.

Staples says the $6.3 billion deal to buy rival Office Depot is still on track despite the retailer’s deepening sales declines in the second quarter.