Burlington Stores investing in store growth

5/31/2018
Burlington Stores is committed to growing its store footprint.

The off-pricer opened 18 stores in its first quarter, up from four in the year-ago period. It expects to open 35 to 40 net new stores this year, averaging about 40,000 sq. ft., and continue its remodeling initiative.

“Our customers have responded very positively to the improvements we have made to our store base including our increasingly smaller store footprint,” CEO Tom Kingsbury said Thursday, during the chain’s quarterly earnings call. “We are committed to investing capital to continually improve our store portfolio and plan to remodel another 34 stores in 2018.”

Kingsbury said the chain, which had 629 locations at the end of 2017, remains confident in its ability to expand to 1,000 stores over the long-term.

Burlington Stores said its net income rose 58% to $82.6 million, or $1.20 per share, in the first quarter. Adjusted net income increased 54% to $87 million, or $1.26 per share, ahead of analysts estimates of $1.09 per share.

Total sales increased 12.8%  to $1.5 billion, also better than expected. Same-store sales rose 4.8%. It was the chain’s 21st consecutive comp-store sales increase.

“Our overall 12.8% sales growth, along with our 70 basis point Adjusted EBITDA margin improvement, enabled the Company to drive a 59% increase in Adjusted EPS in the first quarter, well ahead of our guidance,” said Kingsbury.

The retailer raised its outlook for the rest of the year, saying it expects full-year sales to grow 9.7% to 10.5%. Adjusted EPS is expected to range from $5.90 to $6.00, up from prior guidance of $5.73 to $5.83.

 
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