Winter unable to freeze Burlington Stores’ comps in Q4

Severe winter weather has adversely affected many retailers in the fourth quarter, but not Burlington Stores, which saw comparable store sales increase 4% and net sales increase 1.3% to $1.3 billion for the period ended Feb. 1.



“We are extremely pleased with our results in the fourth quarter and for the full year, given our strong sales and bottom line performance. For the year, we achieved a comparable store sales increase of 4.7%,” said president and CEO Tom Kingsbury. “These results benefited from strong fourth quarter comps of 4% as we continued to improve the execution of our off-price model. We remain focused on delivering great value, brands and freshness to our customers every day as well as executing our growth initiatives to improve comparable store sales, expand our retail store base and enhance our operating margins in fiscal 2014 and beyond.”



For the full year, comparable store sales increased 4.7%. Net sales increased 7.2% to $4.4 billion. During the year, the company opened 21 net new stores, ending the year with 521 stores.



Looking ahead, the company anticipates net sales to increase in the range of 5.8% to 6.8% and comparable store sales to increase between 2% to 3% for fiscal 2014. Net new store openings are expected to include two locations opening in April, one location opening in May and 22 stores in the fall. For the first quarter of fiscal 2014, the company expects comparable store sales to increase 2% to 3% and to open two new stores.