Burlington Stores bucks weak sales trend

The CEO of Burlington Stores Inc. says the off-price retailer is poised for more growth after reporting an increase in earnings and same store sales for the third quarter.

For the period ended Oct. 31, samestore sales increased 2.8% and net sales rose 6.4%.Adjusted net income per share grew 56% to 25 cents vs. 16 cents in the prior year period.Adjusted EBITDA improved 14%, or $10 million, to $82.5 million.



“We are pleased with our third quarter results, which included a 2.8% increase in comparable store sales on top of a 5.2% increase in last year’s third quarter," saidTom Kingsbury, president and CEO. "Adjusted Net Income per Share surpassed our expectations due to sales growth, expansion in gross margin, leverage in SG&A and share repurchase activity. I would like to thank our store and corporate teams for contributing to these results.”

Off-price retailers such as Burlington, TJX and Ross have generally been bucking the malaise affecting many other retailers this year.

"We continue to have significant open to buy and believe we are well prepared to take full advantage of the abundance of merchandise available in the marketplace,” Kingsbury added.

The company announced that its board of directors had authorized the repurchase of up to an additional $200 million of common stock. This brings total availability under the company’s share repurchase programs to $277 million. Share repurchases will be funded using the company’s available cash, and the newly-announced program is authorized to be executed over the next 24 months.

“The decision by our board of directors to authorize a new $200 million share repurchase program reflects their confidence in our business and strategy, as well as our strong cash flow generation that enables us to invest in our growth, reduce debt and repurchase our common stock for the benefit of our shareholders,” Kingsbury said.