Burlington Stores Q4 Profit Down; Sees FY14 Adj. EPS Below View - Quick Facts

(RTTNews) - Off-price retailer Burlington Stores Inc. (BURL) said that its net income for fourth quarter ended February 1, 2014 declined to $63.58 million from $67.95 million in the same quarter last year.

Adjusted net income for the quarter was $81.0 million down from $82.4 million last year. Pro Forma Adjusted Net Income Per Share was $1.07 compared to $1.15 in the year ago quarter.

Net sales for the quarter increased to $1.334 billion from $1.317 billion in the prior year. Prior year net sales included approximately $54 million associated with the 53rd week ended February 2, 2013.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report earnings of $1.03 per share and revenues of $1.34 billion for the fourth-quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Comparable store sales for the fourth-quarter increased 4.0%. In Fiscal 2012, certain stores were directly impacted by Hurricane Sandy and were not included in our comparable store base. In 2013, including these stores, comparable store sales increased 4.3%.

For the first quarter of Fiscal 2014, the company expects adjusted net income per share to be in the range of $0.19 to $0.23 compared to $0.08 per share last year. Comparable store sales are expected to increase 2% to 3%. The Company expects to open two new stores. Analysts expect the company to report earnings of $0.23 per share and revenues of $1.14 billion for the first-quarter.

For Fiscal 2014, Adjusted net income is expected in the range of $1.25 to $1.35 per share. It expects net sales will increase in the range of 5.8% to 6.8%, Comparable store sales will increase between 2% to 3%. Street currently is looking for fiscal year 2014 earnings of $1.38 per share on annual revenues of $4.74 billion.

The Company previously introduced long term targets that on an annual basis included: Comparable store sales growth in the range of 2% to 3%; Adjusted EBITDA margin expansion in the range of 10 to 20 basis points; and Adjusted Net income growth of more than 20%.