Pier 1 Imports doubles net income in fiscal Q1

Home Accents Today Staff -- Home Accents Today, 6/16/2011 10:25:22 AM

FORT WORTH, Texas- Pier 1 Imports today reported that for the fiscal first quarter ended May 28, 2011, net income rose to $14.1 million, almost double that of the $7.7 million net income reported by the company for the same period a year ago.

Revenue rose 9.3% percent to $334.6 million, from $306.3 million a year ago. Comparable store sales increased 10.2% during the first quarter compared to last year's comparable store sales increase of 14.3% for the period. The company attributed the sales increase to increases in store traffic, conversion rate and average ticket.

Income before income taxes was $21.7 million for the first quarter compared to income before income taxes of $7.9 million for the quarter a year ago. Total sales for the first quarter were $334.6 million, a 9.3% increase from $306.3 million in the year-ago quarter.

President and CEO Alex Smith said, "We are very pleased with the results of our first quarter. We continue to see strength and sustainability in all aspects of our business - top line sales growth, strong merchandise margins, prudent cost controls, operating margin improvement, a strong balance sheet and ongoing cash generation. All have benefited from the creativity and rigor embedded in our organization. We are reinvesting into the business and initializing our share repurchase program as cash continues to be generated. We are also pleased to announce the soft launch of Pier 1 To-Go nationally on June 6th. We look forward to discussing our first quarter results in more detail and providing an update to our three-year growth plan initiatives later this morning on our conference call."