Profit rises 14% at Children's Place in Q4

The Children's Place posted strong same-store sales for the fourth quarter as the children’s clothes retailer also released an upbeat forecast for the year.



For the fourth quarter ended Jan. 30, net sales increased 4% to $498.5 million. Same store sales increased 6.7%. Net income was $17.5 million, or 87 cents per diluted share, in the fourth quarter of 2015, compared to net income of $17 million, or 79 cents per diluted share, the previous year.



"Since mid-2014 we have consistently and publicly stated that our multi-pronged, company-wide transformation strategy would begin to deliver results in the back half of 2015," said Jane Elfers, president and CEO. "For the fourth quarter, we delivered adjusted earnings per diluted share of $1.19 compared to $0.94 in the fourth quarter of 2014, a 26.6% increase. Comparable retail sales were positive 6.7%, on top of a positive 3.7% comp in the fourth quarter of 2014. We leveraged adjusted gross margin by 130 basis points, leveraged adjusted operating margin by 70 basis points, our inventories were down 9.7% at quarter-end, on top of a 7.7% decline in the fourth quarter of 2014 and we returned $41 million to shareholders through share repurchases and dividends."



For the full year, net sales declined (2%) to $1.73 billion. Same store sales increased 0.4% in fiscal 2015. Net income was $57.9 million, or $2.80 per diluted share, in the fiscal 2015, compared to net income of $56.9 million, or $2.59 per diluted share, the previous year.



For fiscal 2016, the company expects adjusted net income per diluted share will be in the range of $4 to $4.10. The company also expects a positive mid single digit increase in comparable retail sales.