The Dillard family’s department store fortune took a beating on paper Feb. 21 after Dillard’s Inc. of Little Rock (NYSE: DDS) released its fourth-quarter and year-end financial results.
How big was the drubbing? Nearly $530 million, based on the number of shares the family owned as of Sept. 30, when they reported owning 7.6 million shares.
Shares on the New York Stock Exchange fell by 17% to $337.01 after the earnings report, a plunge of nearly $70 per share. On Friday, Feb. 17, the store chain’s stock had been at $406.65.
The market reacted despite a 5% increase in sales over the fiscal year, which ended Jan. 28. But holiday sales had been flat.
The department store chain reported fourth-quarter earnings of $289.2 million, or $16.89 per share, compared with $321.2 million, or $16.61 per share, in the same period a year ago.
The company posted net sales for the quarter of $2.13 billion, compared with $2.11 billion in the previous year, beating Wall Street forecasts of $2.11 billion, according to The Associated Press. The chain’s net income for the year was $891.6 million, up from $862.5 million the previous year. It ended the year with $650.3 million in cash.
