"We are very pleased to report our company's 15th consecutive quarter of record earnings, when compared with prior-year periods," Robert N. Wildrick, the firm's chief executive officer, said Monday in announcing the Hampstead, MD-based clothier's financial results for the fiscal quarter ending April 30.
During the first three months of the year, net income rose to $6.7 million, or 47 cents per share, compared with net income of $5.3 million, or 37 cents per share, during the same period last year, accounting for a 27% up-tick in earnings per share.
R. Neal Black, executive vice president of marketing and merchandising, said the company's dress line of men's clothing helped lead the way to a 20.8% increase in overall sales of $96.6 million for the first quarter, a substantial from $79.9 million the previous year. Comparable store sales also rose 4.1% while catalog and internet sales increased 26.4%.
Officials with the world's leading men's clothing retailer said the bottom line should remain strong with the opening of 52 new stores in the last 12 months and the planned opening of 65 others, including the company's first ever at an airport location, two others in high-traffic office buildings and another at a hotel and conference center. The clothing retailer currently has 275 stores in 38 states.
The strong showing in the first quarter prompted the company to revise its earning guidelines for the 2005 fiscal year by between $2.07 and $2.12 per share, compared with $1.72 per share during the same fiscal period in 2004.
The good financial news sent shares of the company's stock to a record high of $41.35% in early trading but by the end of Monday, it had declined by $1.10, settling at $40.25 by the close of business.
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