Dillard’s misses Street with profit and sales

Little Rock, Ark. – Dillard’s Inc. had a disappointing first quarter of 2015, missing Wall Street expectations with both earnings and sales. Net income dropped 2% to $109.6 million, from $111.7 million a year earlier.



Net sales climbed to $1.57 billion, from $1.55 billion. Same-store sales and total merchandise sales outside the company’s construction business both fell 1%. Dillard’s plans to open three new stores in fiscal 2015, located in Utah, Louisiana and Ohio.



Sales trends were strongest in the juniors' and children's apparel category followed by shoes and ladies' apparel, and notably weak in the home and furniture category. Sales trends were strongest in the Eastern region, followed by the Central and Western regions, respectively. Dillard’s noted that sales in Texas performed slightly below the company average during the first quarter.



“We are disappointed with our first quarter performance,” said William T. Dillard III, CEO. “Our 1% sales decline hampered our ability to leverage operating expenses and to drive net income growth. Although inventory is higher than we would like, we believe the levels are manageable."