Destination XL swings to Q1 loss; promotes exec to CFO

Canton, Mass. – The costs of converting its Casual Male XL banner to the DXL banner helped Destination XL swing to a net loss in the first quarter of fiscal 2014. The retailer reported a net loss of $3.5 million, compared to net income of $1 million last year.



For the quarter, total sales were $96.8 million, up 3% from $94 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2013. The increase in total sales was primarily due to an increase in same-store sales of 3.4%



"We started the fiscal year off strong, driven by a solid performance at our Destination XL stores in the first quarter of 2014," said president and CEO David Levin. "Although the severe winter weather impacted business in February and March, sales rebounded in April and more than offset weakness early in the quarter as we reported a 3.4% overall comparable sales increase. This positive momentum has continued in May. Our DXL stores continue to perform very well, delivering a 12.8% comparable sales increase during what was a difficult quarter in the retail sector. We have now reported four consecutive quarters of double-digit comparable sales growth at DXL stores."



In addition, Peter H. Stratton, Jr., 42, has been appointed to the position of senior VP, CFO and treasurer, effective June 1. Stratton replaces John E. Kyees, who was serving as interim CFO. Stratton has been serving as Destination XL's senior VP of finance, corporate controller, and chief accounting officer since September 2009.

He joined the company in June 2009 as VP of finance.