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From Home Furnishing Business
Williams-Sonoma Warns of Port Slowdown Impact
March 19,
2015 by in Furniture Retailing, Industry 
Lifestyle retailer Williams-Sonoma (NYSE: WSM) said yesterday in its year-end earnings report that it expects the effects of the West Coast port slowdown to impact its first quarter performance.
Laura Alber, CEO, said while pleased with the latest results despite the port disruption, the expectation is that the such disruptions will continue and impact the retailer through the first half of this year.
For the year ending January 2016 the company is forecasting revenue of between $4.95 billion and $5.02 billion. Williams-Sonoma said it expects the port slowdown to reduce its annual per share earnings by 10 cents to 12 cents and cut revenue by $30 million to $40 million, mostly in the first quarter.
For the year ended Feb. 1, Williams-Sonoma reported net income of $308.9 million compared to net income of $278.9 million in fiscal 2013. Net sales for the year were $4.7 billion, compared to net sales of $44.4 billion last year.
Net income for the fourth quarter $147 million, compared to net income of $133.8 million in the fourth quarter of 2013. Net sales for the quarter were $1.54 billion, a 5.3 percent increase compared to net sales of $1.47 billion in the fourth quarter of last year.