Cato December Same-store Sales Down 12%; Sees Wider Loss In Q4

(RTTNews) - Cato Corp. (CATO) reported that Same-store sales for the month of December decreased 12%. It expects wider loss in the fourth quarter due to reduced margins and store impairment charges. It also cut full year 2016 earnings per share outlook.

"December same-store sales results were unfortunately consistent with our recent trend," stated John Cato, Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer.  Reported sales for the five weeks ended December 31, 2016 were $104.4 million, a 12% decrease from sales of $118.5 million for the five weeks ended January 2, 2016.   Sales for the eleven months ended December 31, 2016 were $901.8 million, a 5% decrease from sales of $948.5 million for the eleven months ended January 2, 2016.  The Company's year-to-date same-store sales decreased 6% to last year.

The company now expect that fourth quarter loss per share to be in the range of $0.50 - $0.54, versus the previous guidance of a loss of $0.07 - $0.11.

The Company's estimate for full year earnings per share is now in the range of $1.66 to $1.70 versus most recent guidance of $2.08 to $2.12 and $2.39 last year.

The Company closed 6 stores during December.  As of December 31, 2016, the Company operated 1,368 stores in 33 states, compared to 1,372 stores in 32 states as of January 2, 2016.