Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. Reports Results For Fiscal 2017 Fourth Quarter (14 Weeks) And Full Year (53 Weeks)

UNION, N.J., April 11, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. (NASDAQ: BBBY) today reported financial results for the fiscal fourth quarter (14 weeks) and full year (53 weeks) ended March 3, 2018.

Fiscal 2017 Fourth Quarter Results

For the fiscal 2017 fourth quarter (14 weeks), the Company reported net earnings of $1.41 per diluted share ($194.0 million), which included a net unfavorable $10.5 million tax expense related to the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (the Tax Act).  Excluding the net unfavorable impact from the Tax Act, net earnings per diluted share in the fiscal 2017 fourth quarter would have been $1.48.  Net earnings for the fiscal 2016 fourth quarter (13 weeks) were $1.84 per diluted share ($268.7 million).

Net sales for the fiscal 2017 fourth quarter (14 weeks) were approximately $3.7 billion, an increase of approximately 5.2% from the prior year quarter (13 weeks).  Comparable sales in the fiscal 2017 fourth quarter (14 weeks) decreased by approximately 0.6%, and included strong sales growth from the Company's customer-facing digital channels, and sales from stores that declined in the mid-single-digit percentage range.

Fiscal 2017 Full Year Results

For the fiscal full year (53 weeks), the Company reported net earnings of $3.04 per diluted share ($424.9 million), which included a net unfavorable $10.5 million tax expense related to the Tax Act, compared with $4.58 per diluted share ($685.1 million) in the corresponding period a year ago (52 weeks).  Excluding the net unfavorable impact from the Tax Act, net earnings per diluted share in fiscal 2017 would have been $3.12.

Net sales for fiscal 2017 (53 weeks) were approximately $12.3 billion, an increase of approximately 1.1% compared with fiscal 2016 (52 weeks).  Comparable sales for the fiscal 2017 full year (53 weeks) decreased by approximately 1.3%, and included strong sales growth from the Company's customer-facing digital channels, and sales from stores that declined in the mid-single-digit percentage range.

Capital Allocation

As a reflection of the long-term health of the business, and commitment to creating shareholder value, the Company's Board of Directors today declared an increase in the quarterly dividend to $0.16 per share.  The increased quarterly dividend is payable on July 17, 2018 to shareholders of record at the close of business on June 15, 2018.

During the fiscal 2017 fourth quarter, the Company repurchased approximately $45 million of its common stock, representing approximately 2 million shares, under its existing $2.5 billion share repurchase program.  As of March 3, 2018, the program had a remaining balance of approximately $1.5 billion.

The Company ended fiscal 2017 with $744 million in cash and investment balances, an increase of approximately $166 million, compared with approximately $578 million in fiscal 2016.

Outlook

Bed Bath & Beyond Inc.'s conference call with analysts and investors will be held today at 5:00 pm EDT.  During this call, the Company plans to review certain of its financial planning assumptions for fiscal 2018, which is a 52-week year.

Based upon its planning assumptions for fiscal 2018, as will be described in the conference call, the Company is modeling net earnings per diluted share for the full year to be in the low-to-mid $2.00 range. 

During the conference call, the Company will also outline its roadmap for continuing the evolution of its foundational structure to support its mission to be trusted by its customers as the expert for the home and heart-felt life events, with the following goals: growing its comparable sales, which it expects to begin in fiscal 2018; moderating the declines in its operating profit and net earnings per diluted share, in fiscal 2018 and fiscal 2019; and growing its net earnings per diluted share by fiscal 2020.

Fiscal 2017 Fourth Quarter Conference Call

Bed Bath & Beyond Inc.'s fiscal 2017 fourth quarter conference call may be accessed by dialing 1-800-446-1671, or if international, 1-847-413-3362, using conference ID number 46495820. The replay of the call can be accessed by dialing 1-888-843-7419, using conference ID number 46495820.  The call and replay can also be accessed via audio webcast on the investor relations section of our website at www.bedbathandbeyond.com.

About the Company

Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. and subsidiaries (the "Company") is an omnichannel retailer selling a wide assortment of domestics merchandise and home furnishings which operates under the names Bed Bath & Beyond, Christmas Tree Shops, Christmas Tree Shops andThat! or andThat!, Harmon, Harmon Face Values or Face Values, buybuy BABY and World Market, Cost Plus World Market or Cost Plus. Customers can purchase products either in-store, online, with a mobile device or through a customer contact center. The Company generally has the ability to have customer purchases picked up in-store or shipped direct to the customer from the Company's distribution facilities, stores or vendors. In addition, the Company operates Of a Kind, an e-commerce website that features specially commissioned, limited edition items from emerging fashion and home designers; One Kings Lane, an authority in home décor and design, offering a unique collection of select home goods, designer and vintage items; PersonalizationMall.com, an industry-leading online retailer of personalized products; Chef Central, an online retailer of kitchenware, cookware and homeware items catering to cooking and baking enthusiasts; and Decorist, an online interior design platform that provides personalized home design services. The Company also operates Linen Holdings, a provider of a variety of textile products, amenities and other goods to institutional customers in the hospitality, cruise line, healthcare and other industries. Additionally, the Company is a partner in a joint venture which operates retail stores in Mexico under the name Bed Bath & Beyond.

The Company operates websites at bedbathandbeyond.com, bedbathandbeyond.ca, worldmarket.com, buybuybaby.com, buybuybaby.ca, christmastreeshops.com, andthat.com, harmondiscount.com, facevalues.com, ofakind.com, onekingslane.com, personalizationmall.com, chefcentral.com, decorist.com, harborlinen.com, and t-ygroup.com.  As of March 3, 2018, the Company had a total of 1,552 stores, including 1,017 Bed Bath & Beyond stores in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and Canada, 276 stores under the names of World Market, Cost Plus World Market or Cost Plus, 119 buybuy BABY stores, 83 stores under the names Christmas Tree Shops, Christmas Tree Shops andThat! or andThat!, and 57 stores under the names Harmon, Harmon Face Values or Face Values.  During the fiscal fourth quarter, the Company opened one World Market store, and one buybuy BABY store, and closed three Bed Bath & Beyond stores and five World Market stores.  The joint venture, to which the Company is a partner, operates eight stores in Mexico under the name Bed Bath & Beyond.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release may contain forward-looking statements.  Many of these forward-looking statements can be identified by use of words such as may, will, expect, anticipate, approximate, estimate, assume, continue, model, project, plan, goal, and similar words and phrases.  The Company's actual results and future financial condition may differ materially from those expressed in any such forward-looking statements as a result of many factors. Such factors include, without limitation: general economic conditions including the housing market, a challenging overall macroeconomic environment and related changes in the retailing environment; consumer preferences, spending habits and adoption of new technologies; demographics and other macroeconomic factors that may impact the level of spending for the types of merchandise sold by the Company; civil disturbances and terrorist acts; unusual weather patterns and natural disasters; competition from existing and potential competitors across all channels; pricing pressures; liquidity; the ability to achieve anticipated cost savings, and to not exceed anticipated costs, associated with organizational changes; the ability to attract and retain qualified employees in all areas of the organization; the cost of labor, merchandise and other costs and expenses; potential supply chain disruption due to trade restrictions, political instability, labor disturbances, product recalls, financial or operational instability of suppliers or carriers, and other items; the ability to find suitable locations at acceptable occupancy costs and other terms to support the Company's plans for new stores; the ability to establish and profitably maintain the appropriate mix of digital and physical presence in the markets it serves; the ability to assess and implement technologies in support of the Company's development of its omnichannel capabilities; uncertainty in financial markets; volatility in the price of the Company's common stock and its effect, and the effect of other factors, on the Company's capital allocation strategy; disruptions to the Company's information technology systems including but not limited to security breaches of systems protecting consumer and employee information; reputational risk arising from challenges to the Company's or a third party supplier's compliance with various laws, regulations or standards, including those related to labor, health, safety, privacy or the environment; reputational risk arising from third-party merchandise or service vendor performance in direct home delivery or assembly of product for customers; changes to statutory, regulatory and legal requirements, including without limitation proposed changes affecting international trade; changes to, or new, tax laws or interpretation of existing tax laws; new, or developments in existing, litigation, claims or assessments; changes to, or new, accounting standards; foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations; and the integration of acquired businesses.  The Company does not undertake any obligation to update its forward-looking statements.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

The following information provides reconciliations of a non-GAAP financial measure presented in this press release.  The Company believes that this non-GAAP financial measure, Net Earnings Excluding Net Impact of Tax Act, provides meaningful supplemental information regarding the performance of the Company's business.  This non-GAAP financial measure should not be considered superior to, but in addition to other financial measures prepared in accordance with GAAP, including the year-to-year results.  The Company's method of determining this non-GAAP financial measure may be different from other companies' methods and, therefore, may not be comparable to those used by other companies and the Company does not recommend the sole use of this non-GAAP measure to assess its financial and earnings performance.

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SOURCE Bed Bath & Beyond