14.3 Percent Same-Store Sales Gain Lifts Pier 1 to Profit

Retailer earns $7.7 million in latest quarter

Larry Thomas -- Gifts and Dec, 6/17/2010 1:56:07 PM

Fort Worth, TX — Buoyed by a 14.3 percent jump in same-store sales, retailer Pier 1 Imports reported a profit of $7.7 million for the quarter ended May 29.

The company said it achieved strong performance in all merchandise categories in all areas of the country.

"Store traffic, conversion rate and average ticket all increased during the quarter," said Alex Smith, president and CEO. "Our customers clearly are enjoying our merchandise, our stores and our customer service."

The quarterly profit, which equals 7 cents per share, was well below the figures for the same quarter last year, when the company made $29.3 million, or 32 cents per share. However, last year's net income included a one-time gain of $47.8 million from repurchasing debt, and Pier 1 would have recorded a net loss without that transaction.

Sales for the latest quarter totaled $306.3 million, up from $281.1 million in the same quarter a year ago.

Smith said merchandise margins rose 4.4 percentage points to 58.6 percent, while gross margin rose 7.2 percentage points to 37.4%.

"Our confidence level is high and we know how to keep the momentum going - continuing to rebuild our profitability one SKU and one customer at a time," said Smith.