Bed, Bath & Beyond misses on Q4 profit, sales; will raise wages

Union, N.J. – Bed, Bath & Beyond Inc. missed Wall Street expectations with its fourth quarter 2014 profit and sales results. In addition, the company indicated that it may join Walmart and other retailers in raising wages for employees.



During the fourth quarter, Bed, Bath & Beyond reported net earnings of $321.1 million, down 4% from $333.3 million a year earlier. Higher cost of sales and selling, general and administrative (SG&A) expenses helped drive down earnings.



Net sales rose 4% to $3.34 billion from $3.2 billion. Same-store sales rose 3.7%.



For the full fiscal year, net earnings fell 4% to $957.05 million, from $1.02 billion in the previous fiscal year. Net sales were approximately $11.88 billion, an increase of 3% from $11.5 billion. Same-store sales rose 2.4%.



In addition to higher employee compensation and benefits, during fiscal 2015 Bed, Bath & Beyond also expects an increased tax rate and same-store sales growth of 2%-3%.