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Mar 4, 2020
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J.Jill posts higher than expected fourth-quarter sales, plummets into loss

Published
Mar 4, 2020

Quincy, Massachusetts-based women’s fashion retailer J.Jill, Inc. reported net sales of $168.1 million for the fourth quarter ended February 1, 2020 on Wednesday, beating analysts’ expectations and sending shares in the company up 9.3% in pre-market trading. The retailer’s bottom line, however, took a dive into loss.


Sales fell 1.7% at J.Jill in the fourth quarter - Instagram: @jjillstyle

 
J.Jill’s Q4 revenues represented a 1.7% decrease from the $170.9 million reported by the company in the prior-year period but came in above the estimate of $163.2 million predicted by FactSet analysts, as quoted by MarketWatch.
 
Comparable sales at the company declined 2.8% during the quarter, while direct-to-consumer sales expanded to represent 47.3% of total revenues, up from 45.3% in the same period in the previous year.

J.Jill slipped from income of $2.1 million, or $0.05 per diluted share, in Q4 2018 to a loss of $38.6 million, or $0.88 per diluted share, in Q4 2019.
 
Looking at the full-year period, the company’s net sales fell 2.1% to $691.3 million, down from $706.3 million in fiscal 2018, while comparable sales decreased 3.6%.
 
In terms of annual income, J.Jill reported a loss of $128.6 million, or $2.94 per diluted share, down from earnings of $30.5 million, or $0.69 per diluted share, in the previous year.
 
“Our fourth quarter results exceeded our expectations as we continued to make progress in balancing a reduction in our inventory levels while maintaining discipline with our bottom line,” commented J.Jill’s interim CEO, James S. Scully, in a release. “We have entered fiscal 2020 with strong focus on gross margin stabilization and recovery driven by enhanced inventory discipline and improved product assortments.”
 
Looking forward, J.Jill expects to see a decrease of between 3% and 5% in comparable sales in the first quarter of fiscal 2020, while total net sales are predicted to fall between 2% and 4%. Diluted earnings per share are expected to be in the range of $0.06 to $0.08.
 
For the full fiscal year, the company expects that its comps will slip between 3% and 5%, and that total net sales will drop between 2% and 4%.
 
Over the course of the fourth quarter, J.Jill opened one store and closed four, ending fiscal 2019 with 287 brick-and-mortar locations across the United States.

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