Commentary: David R. Jaffe, President and Chief Executive Officer of Dress Barn, Inc. commented, "We are again pleased to report record quarterly and annual sales and earnings results, marking the strongest performance in our Company's history. This milestone was achieved on top of a record performance in the prior year. We are very pleased to have leveraged this performance, generated approximately $90 million in free cash, repurchased a significant amount of our stock, and grown our store base."
Mr. Jaffe continued, "As we begin the new fiscal year, our maurices business continues its strong performance. Our dressbarn stores business has slowed as we believe this customer is feeling more of the effects of the current economic slowdown."
"This has resulted in increased dressbarn stores inventory levels versus our plan which will require increased markdowns throughout the first quarter to bring these levels into line. We are optimistic that our dressbarn business will improve as we move through the fall/holiday season and into spring."
"As previously announced, we completed the Company's $75 million share repurchase program by recently repurchasing 2.6 million of our total outstanding shares at cost of approximately $48.3 million."
"While we intend to seek Board approval of a new share repurchase program at this Thursday's Board meeting, we are also cognizant that our strong balance sheet and cash flow place us in an excellent position, particularly given the current capital markets environment, to take advantage of further strategic development opportunities."
Fiscal July 2008 Guidance: The Company's guidance for earnings per diluted share for fiscal 2008 is in the range of $1.40 to $1.50, based on 67.5 million fully diluted shares outstanding and is reflective of the Company's current business outlook. This estimate is based upon various assumptions, including estimated comparable store sales growth in the 3% to 4% range for the year. The Company plans to open 105 stores and close approximately 30 stores, ending fiscal 2008 with 1,505 stores in operation. Capital expenditures are estimated to be in the range of $70 million to $75 million.
Conference Call Information: The Company will conduct a conference call on September 19, 2007 at 9:00 AM Eastern Time to review its fiscal fourth quarter and year end financial results followed by a question and answer session. The conference call will also be simultaneously broadcast at company's website. A recording of the conference call will be available until October 26, 2007.
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