Conn's comps jump 4.9% in Q4

Conn’s Inc. seemed to be putting their troubles behind them in the fourth quarter, as the company reported a modest increase in same store sales.



The company posted a 4.9% increase in same store sales for January (in January 2014, the company posted an increase of 28.2% mostly due to softer underwriting guidelines). Same store sales for the quarter increased 1.3% and they increased 8% for fiscal 2015.



The company had reported a disastrous third quarter after lax standards proved a boon to sales but a bust in the end when the company recorded a $72 million provision for bad debt that caused a loss of $3 million.



“We continue to experience headwinds from tighter underwriting compared to a year ago, with an estimated impact of approximately 5-7% in the quarter,” Conn’s Chairman and CEO Theodore M. Wright said. “Tighter underwriting, along with additional store openings, mostly impacted our Arizona and New Mexico stores. Excluding Arizona and New Mexico locations, same store sales increased 6.9% for the month.”



Conn’s reported $93.6 million in total retail net sales for the month ended Jan. 31, a 16.8% increase compared to the same prior year period. For the three months ended Jan. 31, total retail net sales were $350.5 million, a 16.2% increase compared to the prior year quarter.



"Greater than 60-day delinquency was flat as of January 31, 2015, compared to December 31, 2014, without the benefit of meaningful portfolio growth,” Wright added. “We experienced same store unit sales increases in the furniture and mattress and home appliance categories. Average selling prices were up on flat same store unit sales in consumer electronics and partially offset unit declines in home office. Television same store sales increased 3.1% and we continue to experience strong sales in gaming, while tablet same store sales declined 46.5%. Excluding home office, same store sales increased 6.5%.”



Conn’s operates approximately 90 retail locations in Arizona, Colorado, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas.