Dillard's impacted by mall traffic decline in fourth quarter

By

Obi Anyanwu

Published
Feb 23, 2017

Mall traffic declines impacted Dillard’s in its fourth quarter, according to CEO William T. Dillard, II. Dillard added that the company is focused on bringing “more distinctive brand and service experiences to Dillard’s, both in-store and online” in response to the declining traffic.

He said, "Our strong balance sheet provides us support in these challenging times, and during the year we returned $256 million to shareholders.”
 

Net sales for the fourth quarter fell to $1.936 billion from $2.074 billion in the prior year’s comparable period, and net income was $56.9 million, or $1.72 per share, compared to $84.0 million, or $2.31 per share in the fourth quarter of 2015.
 
Comparable sales fell 6% in the quarter and total merchandise sales decreased 6% in the quarter as well. Despite the decline, men’s and women’s apparel and men’s accessories performed well in the quarter.

Full year net sales fell slightly to $6.257 billion from $6.596 billion, and total merchandise sales decreased 5% to $6.071 billion from $6.389 billion. Comparable sales fell 5% and net income decreased to $169.2 million, or $4.93 per share, from $269.4 million, or $6.91 per share.