Dillard’s Inc. of Little Rock (NYSE: DDS) reported Thursday a 1% drop in sales for its first quarter that ended May 4, marking the fifth straight quarter of sales declines.
Net income also fell for the Little Rock retail chain in the first quarter to $180 million, or $11.09 per share, compared with $201.5 million, or $11.85 per share, for the first quarter in 2023. The results beat Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of three analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of $9.25 per share.
“While the consumer environment remained challenging, we focused on profitable sales by offering interesting product combined with inventory control,” Dillard’s CEO William T. Dillard said in a news release. “As a result, our retail gross margin was 46.2% and inventory was down 2%. For the first time in our history, we reported cash and short-term investments exceeding $1 billion.”
For Dillard’s fiscal year that ended Feb. 3, sales were down 5%.
In the first quarter, same-store sales fell by 2%, a key metric for retailers.
Net sales, which include the company’s construction business, CDI Contractors LLC, were $1.55 billion compared with $1.58 billion in the same period a year ago, beating Street forecasts. Three analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $1.53 billion.
Sales of cosmetics performed the best at Dillard’s, while was the strongest performing merchandise category, and men’s apparel and accessories was the weakest performing category.
“Gross margin increased moderately in home and furniture and ladies’ accessories and lingerie and increased slightly in men’s apparel and accessories, ladies’ apparel, and juniors’ and children’s apparel,” Dillard’s said in the news release. “Gross margin was essentially flat in shoes and cosmetics.”
In March, Dillard’s opened a 140,000-SF store at The Empire Mall in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, which marked Dillard’s 30th state of operation.
Dillard’s said it will close its 120,000-SF Eastwood Mall Clearance Center in Niles, Ohio, in July.
Dillard’s operates 274 Dillard’s stores, including 29 clearance centers and an internet store at dillards.com.
Shares of the company were flat Thursday morning, trading at around $453. Year to date, shares were up about 12%.
The Associated Press contributed information to this report.
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