Bon-Ton Q1 loss widens, reaffirms earnings guidance

The Bon-Ton Stores reported operating results for the first quarter of fiscal 2015, the 13-week period ended May 2, 2015, and reaffirmed its earnings guidance for full-year fiscal 2015. Comparable store sales increased 0.8 percent compared with the prior year period. Adjusted EBITDA was 4.1 million dollars in the quarter compared with 7.1 million dollars in the first quarter of fiscal 2014. Net loss in the quarter was 34.1 million dollars, or 1.74 dollars per diluted share, compared with net loss of 31.5 million dollars, or 1.63 dollars per diluted share, in the first quarter of fiscal 2014.

”While we saw top-line pressure in the first quarter, we delivered a comparable store sales increase of 0.8 percent, with growth in both brick and mortar and ecommerce channels, and effectively managed our expenses, leveraging expense decreases to an 80-basis-point reduction in our selling, general and administrative rate," commented Kathryn Bufano, President and Chief Executive Officer.

Comparable store sales in the first quarter increased 0.8 percent over the prior year period and total sales increased 0.6 percent to 610.9 million dollars, compared with 607.5 million dollars in the first quarter of fiscal 2014. Growth in small and mid-tier stores continued to outpace that of larger locations. Gross margin decreased 7.9 million dollars to 206.5 million dollars as compared with the comparable prior year period. The gross margin rate in the first quarter of fiscal 2015 decreased 149 basis points to 33.8 percent of net sales.

"Based on our performance in the first quarter, we expect our comparable store sales growth assumption to be 2 percent to 2.5 percent in fiscal 2015, and we are reaffirming our fiscal 2015 guidance of Adjusted EBITDA in a range of 150 million dollars to 160 million dollars, earnings per diluted share in a range of a loss of 0.25 dollars to earnings of 0.25 dollars,” Bufano added.