Fashion specialty retailer Cato's Q3 net income rise 44%
15 Nov '06
3 min read
The Cato Corporation reported record net income of $5.9 million for the third quarter ended October 28, 2006, compared to net income of $4.1 million for the third quarter ended October 29, 2005, an increase of 44 percent.
Earnings per diluted share for the third quarter were $0.18, compared to $0.13 last year, an increase of 38 percent. Sales for the third quarter were $187.7 million, a 6 percent increase over sales of $177.8 million last year. Comparable store sales for the quarter were flat to the prior year.
For the nine months ended October 28, 2006, the Company earned net income of $38.8 million compared to net income of $33.2 million for the nine months ended October 29, 2005, a 17 percent increase.
Earnings per diluted share were $1.22 compared to $1.04 last year, a 17 percent increase. Sales were $632.1 million for the first nine months of 2006, a 5 percent increase from sales of $601.1 million last year. Year-to-date comparable store sales were flat to the prior year.
For the quarter, the gross margin rate decreased to 32.2 percent versus 32.6 percent last year. The decrease is primarily due to higher freight and occupancy costs offset by an increase in merchandise contribution.
The SG&A rate decreased to 27.4 percent from 28.8 percent last year primarily due to lower incentive compensation and lower write-offs related to the Company's proprietary credit card.
"Third quarter results were in line with expectations as we continued to experience better sell-throughs of regular-priced merchandise," commented John Cato, Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer.
marketing@alchempro.com
