Michaels profit up 18%, but issues soft outlook for 2015

Irving, Texas -- The Michaels Cos. reported Thursday its net income rose 18% to $157 million in the fourth quarter, up from $133 million in the year-earlier period. But the retailer gave a soft outlook for the year, citing, among other things, unfavorable Canadian exchange rates and the impact of the West Coast port slowdown.



Sales for the fourth quarter increased 3.4% to $1.61 billion. Same-store sales increased by 1.4%



“Our Holiday presentation leveraged the learnings from our store remodel program to showcase a larger and more cohesive offering, supported by engaging marketing,” said CEO Chuck Rubin. “We achieved solid performance across categories and geographies as our customers recognized and responded to the improvements that we have put in place."



For the full year, net sales increased 3.7% to $4.74 billion. Full year net income was $217 million. At the end of the fourth quarter, it operated 1,168 Michaels stores and 120 Aaron Brothers stores.



Michaels expects fiscal 2015 total net sales growth of 3.2% to 3.7% or 4.4% to 4.9% on a constant currency basis and a comparable store sales increase of 1.5% to 2.0% or 2.7% to 3.2% on a constant currency basis.