Cato January same-store sales down 7 percent, lowers outlook

The Cato Corporation has reported sales of 52.9 million dollars for the four weeks ended January 30, 2016, a decrease of 4 percent from sales of 54.9 million dollars for the four weeks ended January 31, 2015. Same-store sales for the month decreased 7 percent from last year.

"January same-store sales results were significantly impacted by adverse weather," stated John Cato, Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer, adding, "Due to the impact of the adverse weather and increased costs, primarily related to higher medical expenses, we now expect fourth quarter EPS results will be within the range of 0.32 dollar to 0.36 dollar versus our previous guidance of 0.39 dollar to 0.43 dollar versus 0.33 dollar last year. The company's estimate for full year earnings per diluted share is now in the range of 2.28 dollars to 2.32 dollars versus our most recent guidance of 2.35 dollars to 2.39 dollars versus 2.15 dollars last year."

Sales for fiscal fourth quarter, were 247.3 million dollars, an increase of 4 percent from sales of 237.8 million dollars for the fourth quarter ended January 31, 2015. For the quarter, same-store sales increased 1 percent from last year. For the year, the company's sales increased 2 percent to 1,001.4 million dollars from 2014 sales of 977.9 million dollars and same-store sales were flat to last year.