Fred's March Comps. Down 0.5% - Quick Facts

(RTTNews) - Fred's, Inc. (FRED) reported that its total sales for the five-week fiscal month ended April 1, 2017 decreased 2.7% to $208.6 million from $214.3 million, prior year. Comparable store sales for March decreased 0.5%. The company said its March 2017 comparable store sales reflected the benefit of tax refunds, which were delayed from February to March, but were offset by a later Easter, shifting holiday sales into April.

For the fourth quarter of 2016, Fred's recorded a net loss of approximately $22.5 million or $0.60 per share. During the fourth quarter, the company recorded charges totaling $23.4 million, or $0.49 per share after tax.

Fred's net sales for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2016 decreased 4.5% to $529.7 million from $554.6 million for the fourth quarter last year. Comparable store sales for the quarter decreased 3.6%. Comparable store sales in the fourth quarter of 2016 included a negative 2.6% impact as a result of the sale of low productive discontinued inventory versus the fourth quarter of 2015.

Michael Bloom, CEO, said, "Over the last several months we have started to recognize the positive impact of the initiatives we began implementing in 2016. We are now seeing bottom-line improvement driven by sequential growth in Retail Pharmacy adjusted script comps, sequential progress in sales trends in our Specialty Pharmacy business, Front Store margin expansion and strong holiday seasonal category sales. We are pleased to report that our comprehensive strategy and plan to improve our performance is on target."