Restoration Hardware sales up
By Furniture Today Staff -- Furniture Today, April 19, 2004
CORTE MADERA, Calif. — Top 100 company Restoration Hardware posted sales of $165 million in its fourth quarter ended Jan. 1, up 6.3% over $155.2 million in the comparable quarter a year ago for the lifestyle-oriented specialty home furnishings retailer.
Fourth-quarter net income of $7.9 million dropped 18.7% from $9.7 million a year ago. Earnings per share were 21 cents compared with 26 cents in the prior quarter.
Same-store sales were up 0.7% in the quarter.
Net direct-to-consumer revenues, which include catalog and Internet sales, jumped 50.8% to $26.6 million from $17.6 million a year ago. Net retail revenues inched up 0.6% to $138.4 million from $137.6 million in the year-earlier quarter.
Sales for the full year were up 9.5% to $438.5 million from $400.3 million last year. Same-store sales grew 5.2%. Same-store sales a year ago were up 6.2% versus dropping 4.6% in the 2001 year.
Net retail revenues grew 4.2% to $370.6 million, compared to $355.6 million in the 2002 year. Net direct-to-consumer revenues skyrocketed 51.9% to $67.9 million from 2002's $44.7 million.
Restoration Hardware posted a net loss of $2.9 million for the year, compared with a net loss of $4 million in 2002. The 2002 year included a $358,000 after-tax charge for preferred dividends.
Net loss per share in 2003 was 10 cents, measured against a 13-cent loss in 2002. Gross margin percentage increased to 30.2% from 29.3% in the previous year.
Fiscal year-end 2003 inventories were $102.9 million, an increase of 9% versus last year's inventory of $94.5 million. Inventories were in line with the company's sales growth plans for the first quarter of fiscal 2004.
Gary Friedman, Restoration's president and CEO, said, "Looking forward, we remain confident that our new merchandising strategy will continue to drive positive comparable-store sales, and significantly higher catalog and Internet revenues.
"As expected, we ended fiscal 2003 with improved operating results, lower debt and a stronger balance sheet than a year ago, providing us with adequate liquidity to support our future growth plans," he said.
| Restoration Hardware | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Earnings per share are fully diluted, and all figures in parentheses are loses or declines. | |||
| 13 weeks ended 1/31 | 2004 | 2003 | Change |
| (a) Includes net retail revenues and net direct-to-customer revenue. (b) Includes income tax benefits of $1.8 million in the 2004 52 weeks and $8.5 million in the 2003 52 weeks. The 2003 52 weeks also includes $358,000 in preferred dividends. | |||
| Revenues (a) | $164,955,000 | $155,167,000 | 6.3% |
| Operating income | 13,791,000 | 15,665,000 | (12.0%) |
| Net income | 7,892,000 | 9,710,000 | (18.7%) |
| Earnings per share | 0.21 | 0.26 | (19.2%) |
| 52 weeks ended 1/31 | 2004 | 2003 | Change |
| Revenues (a) | $438,508,000 | $400,337,000 | 9.5% |
| Operating income | (2,590,000) | (9,025,000) | — |
| Net income (b) | (2,941,000) | (3,961,000) | — |
| Earnings per share | (0.10) | (0.13) | — |
