Express comparable sales decline by 30 percent in Q3

Consolidated net sales at Express Inc. decreased 34 percent to 322.1 million dollars with consolidated comparable sales down 30 percent. The company said in a statement that comparable retail sales, which include both Express stores and ecommerce, decreased 33 percent compared to the third quarter of 2019, while comparable outlet sales decreased 20 percent.

“In the third quarter, we continued to advance the Expressway Forward strategy while taking decisive and appropriate action to manage our liquidity. Our ecommerce business continues to gain momentum and the new fashion product that fully reflects the Express Edit viewpoint is outpacing the balance of our assortment,” said Tim Baxter, the company’s Chief Executive Officer.

Gross margin for the quarter was 4.3 percent of net sales compared to 28.2 percent in last year’s third quarter. Operating loss was 110.9 million dollars compared to a loss of 6.7 million dollars in the third quarter of 2019. The company added that net loss was 90.3 million dollars or a loss of 1.39 dollars per diluted share, while on an adjusted basis, net loss was 76.2 million dollars or a loss of 1.17 dollars per diluted share for the third quarter of 2020.

Subsequent to quarter end, the company also completed a ten percent workforce reduction at its Columbus, Ohio corporate office, which are expected to result in 13 million dollars in benefits in 2021, and are in addition to the 95 million dollars cash tax benefit the company expects to receive in the second quarter of 2021 as part of the CARES Act.

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