Toys"R"Us makes progress on turnaround
The CEO of Toys"R"Us says increases in same store sales and profit show that the company is on the right path toward strategic growth.
For the fourth quarter ended Jan. 30, the company earned $276 million, up from $265 million a year earlier. Revenue fell 2.6% to $4.9 billion. Same store sales increased 2.3%.
“I am very encouraged by our positive consolidated same store sales in what was a very competitive marketplace,” said Dave Brandon, chairman and CEO. "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. 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. 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.”
For the full year 2015, operating earnings were $378 million, nearly double the $191 million figure from fiscal 2014. Adjusted earnings rose to $800 million, from $642 million the previous year, but the company posted a net loss of $130 million. Still, that was narrower than the $292 million net loss in 2014. Consolidated same-store sales rose 0.9 percent, the company added.
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. I am proud of the hard work that all of our team members have put in to get us to this point and I look forward to continuing on our path forward.”
The company sells merchandise in 866 Toys“R”Us and Babies“R”Us stores in the United States, Puerto Rico and Guam, and in more than 750 international stores and over 245 licensed stores in 37 foreign countries and jurisdictions.