Bed Bath & Beyond may follow wage hike trend

Bed Bath & Beyond indicated in its fourth quarter earnings report that it may be joining Walmart and other retailers with plans to increase wages.

The company said it is lowering its 2015 earnings guidance due to "an increase in investments in compensation and benefits in 2015 beyond those historically planned."

For the fourth quarter of fiscal 2014, Bed Bath & Beyond reported net earnings of $1.80 per diluted share ($321.1 million) compared with net earnings for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2013 of $1.60 per diluted share ($333.3 million). Net sales for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2014 were approximately $3.337 billion, an increase of approximately 4.2% from net sales of approximately $3.203 billion reported in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2013.

Same store sales in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2014 increased by approximately 3.7%, compared with an increase of approximately 1.7% in last year's fiscal fourth quarter.

For the fiscal full year ended Feb. 28, the company reported net earnings of $5.07 per diluted share ($957.5 million) compared with $4.79 per diluted share ($1.022 billion) in the full year of fiscal 2013. Net sales for fiscal 2014 were approximately $11.881 billion, an increase of approximately 3.3% from net sales of approximately $11.504 billion in fiscal 2013. Same store sales for both fiscal 2014 and fiscal 2013 increased by approximately 2.4%.

For the current quarter, the company said it expects to earn between 90 cents and 95 cents a share, below analysts’ expectations of $1.01 in per-share earnings. It forecast same store sales to rise between 2% and 3% for the first quarter and full year, with earnings per share flat to up by mid-single digits for the full year.

Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. operates 1,513 stores, including 1,019 Bed Bath & Beyond stores in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and Canada, 270 stores under the names of World Market, Cost Plus World Market or Cost Plus, 96 buybuy BABY stores, including its first in Canada, 78 stores under the names Christmas Tree Shops and 50 stores under the names Harmon or Harmon Face Values.