Burlington Coat Factory net income drops in Q4; will open 25 net new stores

Burlington, N.J. – Burlington Coat Factory saw a 36% decline in its fourth quarter net income, which fell to $16.1 million from $25.3 million in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2012. The retailer plans to open 25 net new stores during fiscal 2014, including 22 in the fall, two in May and one in April.



Net sales grew 1.5% to $1.33 billion from $1.13 billion and same-store sales increased 4.3%. For fiscal 2014, Burlington Coat expects same-store sales to increase between 2% and 3% and net sales to grow 5.8% to 6.8%. The company cited the 53rd week in fiscal 2012 as well as expenses related to opening 21 net new stores as affecting its net income.



During the full fiscal year, net income dropped 6% to $63.58 billion from $67.94 billion. Net sales increased 7% to $4.4 billion, from $4.1 billion. Same-store sales improved 4.7%.



“We are extremely pleased with our results in the fourth quarter and for the full year, given our strong sales and bottom line performance,” said Tom Kingsbury, president and CEO. “These results benefited from strong fourth quarter comps of 4.0% as we continued to improve the execution of our off-price model. We remain focused on delivering great value, brands and freshness to our customers every day as well as executing our growth initiatives to improve comparable store sales, expand our retail store base and enhance our operating margins in fiscal 2014 and beyond.”