Pier 1 Imports enjoys solid Q1

FORT WORTH, Texas — Pier 1 Imports saw “significant” growth in sales and profit for the 15th consecutive quarter.

The company reported net income of $20.3 million for the first quarter ended June 1, a 14% increase from $17.8 million for the first quarter last year. Total sales for the first quarter were $395 million, a 9.3% increase from $361 million in the prior year quarter. The company’s comparable store sales increased nearly 6% during the first quarter compared to last year’s comparable store sales gain of 7.2%. Comparable store sales results for the quarter were primarily attributable to increases in store traffic and higher average ticket.

The company’s gross profit for the quarter improved to $167.6 million, or 42.4% of sales, from $150.3 million, or 41.6% of sales in the first quarter of last year. Gross profit primarily benefitted from the leveraging of store occupancy costs.

“The continued improvement of our gross profit speaks to the success of our merchandising strategies, both in-store and online, and reflects strong full-price selling during the period,” said president and CEO Alex W. Smith. “We also leveraged expenses, enabling us to deliver operating margins of 8.4% and earnings per share growth of 19%.”

Smith added that he is pleased with the company’s ongoing progress it is making toward building out its multichannel functionality. The company’s planned rollout of its new point-of-sale system is on track for completion later this summer, at which time it will be able to begin integrating its stores and e-commerce businesses.