Designer Brands Q1 comparable sales increase by 15.3 percent

For the three months ended April 30, 2022, Designer Brands Inc. reported net sales increase of 18.1 percent to 830.5 million dollars and comparable sales increase of 15.3 percent.

Gross profit for the quarter increased to 275.7 million dollars and gross margin as a percentage of net sales was 33.2 percent as compared to 30.7 percent last year.

Reported net income was 26.2 million dollars or diluted EPS of 34 cents, while adjusted net income was 36.7 million dollars or diluted EPS of 48 cents.

Commenting on the first quarter trading, Roger Rawlins, the company’s chief executive officer, stated: "We saw robust growth in our owned brands in the quarter, both through our direct-to-consumer and wholesale channels, and believe we are on a great trajectory to achieve our goal of doubling our owned brand sales by 2026."

On April 8, 2022, the company’s board of directors approved the reinstatement of the regular quarterly cash dividend to shareholders. A dividend of 5 cents per share was paid on May 6, 2022 to shareholders of record at the close of business on April 22, 2022. In addition, a dividend of 5 cents per share will be paid on July 6, 2022 to shareholders of record at the close of business on June 22, 2022.

During the first quarter of 2022, the company opened two new stores in the U.S. with no stores closed, resulting in a total of 510 U.S. stores and 140 Canadian stores as of April 30, 2022.

The company is updating guidance for the full year 2022 and now expects comparable sales growth in mid-single digits compared to previous outlook of high-single digits growth and diluted EPS in the range of 1.90 dollars to 2 dollars compared to previous range of 1.80 to 1.90 dollars.