The Children's Place Q2 sales climb, raises outlook

By

Jennifer Braun

Published
Aug 26, 2018

The Children’s Place, Inc. saw net sales climb 20.1 percent to $448.7 million during the second quarter of 2018, the North American retailer announced last week. 

 
The positive results follow a weak first quarter where both comparable retail sales and net sales were down. 
 
“We set the bar very high for the second quarter and we beat it. We delivered our highest ever quarterly comp, a positive 13.2 percent on top of a positive 3.1 percent last year. We delivered adjusted EPS of $0.70, $0.09 above the high end of our guidance range,” explained Jane Elfers, President and Chief Executive Officer, in a news statement. 

Net income was $7.5 million, or $0.45 per diluted share, compared to net income of $14.3 million, or $0.79 per diluted share, the previous year.

Meanwhile, adjusted net income was $11.7 million, or $0.70 per diluted share, compared to adjusted net income of $15.6 million, or $0.86 per diluted share. 
 
Gross profit was up at $154.8 million in the second quarter, compared to $128.4 million during the same period last year. 
 
The company closed 10 stores and did not open any stores during the second quarter of 2018.
 
The retailer has been closing stores since 2013 when it announced its fleet optimization initiative and now operates 992 stores and a square footage of 4.6 million. 
 
Year to date, net sales are up 9.2 percent to $885 million, as are comparable retail sales, which increased 5.1 percent. 
 
Looking ahead, the company raised its outlook for adjusted net income per diluted share to a range of $8.09 to $8.29 from a range of $7.95 to $8.20, for fiscal 2018. It now expects total net sales for the year to be in the range of $1.945 to $1.955 billion.
 
“We are focused on driving customer acquisition, improving customer retention and increasing customer engagement through our digital transformation investments. We look forward to continuing to deliver best-in-class results for our shareholders,” concluded Elfers.