Toys 'R' Us makes progress on turnaround

The CEO of Toys “R” Us sounded an upbeat note on Thursday amid results that showed the chain cut its full-year net loss by more than half in fiscal 2015, and improved its adjusted earnings by 25%.



"Throughout the year, and especially during the holiday season, we focused on improving our execution to deliver a positive and memorable shopping experience to our customers,” said Dave Brandon, who became chairman and CEO of Toys “R” Us in July 2015. “We significantly improved our performance, but we can and will make further progress on our quest to achieve flawless execution in every aspect of our operations.”



The net loss for the full year was $130 million versus a net loss of $292 million in the prior year. In more good news for the retailer, its adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization were $800 million for the full year, up from $642 last year.



“We grew Adjusted EBITDA by 25% by successfully executing a number of key initiatives while continuing to take advantage of the progress we’ve made to right-size our cost structure,” Brandon stated.



Net sales for the year were $11.8 billion, down $559 million from 2014. The company said the decrease was partially due to a fluctuation in the foreign exchange rates. Same-store sales rose by 0.9%.



The company earned $276 million for the quarter ended Jan. 30, up from $265 million a year earlier.



Revenue fell 2.6% to $4.9 billion. Same-store sales increased 2.3%.



Brandon added: “We have an exciting and challenging year ahead of us. We believe we can continue the positive momentum we have built by executing our four strategic pillars: grow and build our brands throughout the world, create a world class experience for our customers, create a strong financial foundation and make talent and culture a competitive advantage.”



Toys “R” Us operates 866 Toys “R” Us and Babies “R” Us stores in the United States, Puerto Rico and Guam, and more than 750 international stores and over 245 licensed stores in 37 foreign countries and jurisdictions.