Express Q4 beats Street; issues upbeat outlook

Columbus, Ohio – Expenses, primarily related to incremental marketing activities, helped decrease profits at Express Inc. during the fourth quarter of fiscal 2014. But the chain beat Wall Street analysts earnings and sales estimates while also giving an upbeat outlook for its current quarter.



Express reported net income of $41.8 million, down 16% from $49.7 million last year.



Net sales increased 1% to $725.8 million from $715.9 million. Same-store sales, including e-commerce, dropped 2%. E-commerce sales climbed 4% to $144.3 million.



"Our fourth quarter comparable sales and earnings performance exceeded the increased guidance that we issued in January,” said David Kornberg, president and CEO Express. “Sales picked up substantially during the final two weeks of December and remained strong throughout the balance of the quarter. I'm particularly pleased that as we reduced all-store promotional activity in January versus the prior year, we drove merchandise margin gains and positioned ourselves to begin 2015 with a better composition of spring inventory than at this time last year."



For the full fiscal year, Express reported net income of $68.3 million, down 41% from $116.5 million the prior fiscal year. Net sales decreased 2% to $2.17 billion, from $2.22 billion. Same-store sales decreased 5%. E-commerce sales rose 4% to $354.2 million.



For the first quarter of fiscal 2015, Express is forecasting net income of $3 to $6 million and same-store sales growth in the low-single-digits.