The Bon-Ton Stores Q1 net sales decline 6.1 percent

REPORT_ The Bon-Ton Stores in its operating results for the first

quarter of fiscal 2014 ended May 3, 2014, also reaffirmed its earnings guidance for fiscal 2014. Total sales and comparable store sales decreased 6.1 percent and 5.8 percent, respectively, in the quarter. Adjusted EBITDA was 7.1 million dollars, compared with 15.2 million dollars in the first quarter of fiscal 2013. Net loss in the first quarter was 31.5 million dollars, or 1.63 dollars per diluted share.

Said Brendan Hoffman, President and Chief Executive Officer, “We forecasted our first quarter sales to reflect weather challenges, but the prolonged adverse conditions resulted in a financial performance below our expectations. We saw an improvement in sales performance mid-April as the weather became more seasonal and traffic trends improved dramatically. Despite our shortfall in sales, we were able to achieve a higher gross margin rate, control expenses and effectively manage our inventory such that we ended the quarter with retail inventory levels 1.7 percent below that of the prior year on a comparable store basis.”

Total sales in the first quarter of fiscal 2014 decreased 607.5 million dollars. In the first quarter of fiscal 2014, gross margin decreased 11 million dollars to 214.4 million dollars. The gross margin rate for the first quarter of fiscal 2014 increased to 35.3 percent of net sales from 34.8 percent of net sales in the prior year, primarily the result of increased cumulative markup.

Elaborating on the guidance, Keith Plowman, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, stated, “We are reaffirming our fiscal 2014 guidance for Adjusted EBITDA in a range of 170 million dollars to 180 million dollars, for income per diluted share in a range of 0.40 dollars to 0.70 dollars.”