Pier 1 Q3 Sales up 10.9%

November 28, 2012  by in UnCategorized   

By Home Furnishings Business in Financial Reports on November 29, 2012

Home furnishings retailer Pier 1 Imports (NYSE: PIR) announced fiscal 2013 third-quarter sales of $425 million, a 10.9 percent increase over the prior-year period.

Earnings per share for the three months ended Nov. 24 were $0.22, compared with $0.21 in third-quarter 2011. Comparable store sales for the quarter increased 7.9 percent on top of last year's 7 percent gain. Three-year cumulative comparable store sales for the third quarter have increased 25.1 percent.

Through fiscal 2013's first nine months, comparable store sales increased 7.3 percent versus a comparable store sales increase of 9.2 percent in the year-ago period. Total sales for the first nine months increased to $1.153 billion from $1.057 billion for the same period last year.

Pier 1, Fort Worth, Texas, estimated the impact of lost sales and costs associated with Hurricane Sandy to be approximately $0.02 per share, net of tax, for the third quarter of fiscal 2013. In the days immediately following the storm, up to 225 stores were closed, primarily due to power outages in affected areas, and 50 stores operated on reduced hours. All stores were reopened and fully operational by the end of the second week in November, with the exception of one store located in Long Island, N.Y., which remains closed due to storm damage.

"While a large number of our stores experienced closure and disruption due to Sandy, our focus was directed first and foremost on the safety and well-being of our associates and others in need," said CEO Alex Smith. "I am extremely proud of and grateful to our associates for their efforts to reopen our stores quickly, even though their own lives were, and in some cases still are, disrupted.

"We're pleased to deliver strong sales growth this quarter, as customers responded particularly well to our fall assortments. Excluding the impact of Hurricane Sandy, we estimate that third quarter comp store sales would have increased slightly over 9 percent."