Ollie’s sees post-IPO sales growth

Ollie’s Bargain Outlet delivered strong sales growth in its first quarter as a public company and expects the second half of the year will see more of the same from its rapidly expanding store based and extreme value positioning.

Harrisburg, Pa.-based Ollie’s operates 190 stores and sales for its second quarter ended Aug. 1 increased 19% to $182 million thanks to a 7.8% same store sales increase and the addition of 15 new stores during the first half of the year. Net income increased 12.3% to $6.4 million from $5.7 million. Earnings per share were flat compared to the prior year second quarter at 12 cents.

"We had a strong second quarter and are pleased with our results. Comparable store sales increased 7.8% and the increase was very broad based, with a vast majority of our 21 departments generating positive comparable store sales and most of those being in the mid-single-digit or higher range,” said Mark Butler, Ollie’s chairman, president and CEO. “With our growing size, scale and visibility, we continue to gain better access to products, and the second quarter benefited from a great assortment of both every day and seasonal products. The result was strong sales across the business with all geographic regions and departments such as, lawn and garden, food, electronics, bed and bath and hardware leading the way.”

Looking forward, Ollie’s said it expects the combination of between 25 and 30 new stores and same store sales growth in the range of 3.3% to 3.8% will enable it to reach full year sales of as much as $741 million.

The company went public on July 21 when it sold more 10.3 million shares at $16 a share.