Pier 1 reports $29.3M profit
By Larry Thomas -- Furniture Today, June 22, 2009
Fort Worth, Texas — Buoyed by a one-time gain from repurchasing debt, retailer Pier 1 Imports recorded a profit of $29.3 million in its fiscal first quarter, ended May 30.
The quarterly income, which equals 32 cents per share, reverses a net loss of $32.8 million or 37 cents per share in the same quarter last year.
Sales for the most recent quarter were down 9.3% from the comparable period a year earlier to $281.1 million, from $310 million a year earlier. The company said the decline was largely due to a reduction in its store count and a same-store sales decline of 7.5%.
The retailer closed 17 stores during the quarter and had 1,073 locations as of May 30. Pier 1 plans to close about 50 more stores this year, and said it is continuing to negotiate rental reductions from many of its landlords.
Its efforts to obtain reduced rents already have resulted in savings of about $9 million, the company said.
The one-time gain of $47.8 million came when a foreign subsidiary of Pier 1 repurchased $79 million worth of the company's convertible senior notes for $27 million in a privately negotiated transaction.
In addition to the gain from the debt repurchase, the retailer recorded a gain of $10.4 million from the settlement of foreign litigation.
Pier 1 Imports
Earnings per share are fully diluted, and all figures in parentheses are losses or declines.
| Quarter ended 5/30 | 2009 | 2008 | Change |
| (a) Includes gain on repurchase of debt of $47.8 million in the 2009 quarter and other nonoperating income of $10.4 million in the 2009 quarter and $632,000 in the 2008 quarter. |
|||
| Sales | $281,130,000 | $310,020,000 | (9.3%) |
| Operating income | (20,743,000) | (21,762,000) | — |
| Net income (a) | 29,314,000 | (32,824,000) | — |
| Earnings per share | 0.32 | (0.37) | — |
