STEIN MART NET DIPS ON SALES SLUMP
NEW YORK — Stein Mart Inc.’s second-quarter earnings dropped 21.4 percent, clearing a lowered bar, but the company said sour sales trends could pull the rest of the year below already reduced expectations.
Net income for the quarter dropped to $10.9 million, or 26 cents a share, from $13.8 million, or 32 cents, a year ago. Results met Wall Street’s consensus estimates, which were lowered after Stein Mart’s July 6 profit warning.
Sales for the three months ended June 30 rose 10.1 percent, to $320.7 million, against $291.2 million a year ago. Comparable-store sales rose 1.5 percent.
Investors took the results in stride, having already reduced the price of the stock 7 percent with the warnings, and traded its shares down 11 cents to close at $8.50 Tuesday on the Nasdaq.
Jay Stein, chairman and chief executive officer, noted in a statement: “The concern about the economic climate reduced traffic in our stores.”
Stein noted: “Our goal for fall is to be conservative with our plans, but flexible with our resources, so we can take early advantage of any turnaround in the overall retail environment.”
The Jacksonville, Fla.-based firm operated 234 doors at the end of the quarter and plans to add 19 to that base by yearend.