Thursday, Kirkland's Inc. (KIRK), a specialty retailer of home decor, reported a narrower loss in second quarter as comparable store sales and margin improved significantly over last year.
The Jackson, Tennessee-based company posted second quarter net loss of $1.69 million or $0.09 per share, compared to a net loss of $9.25 million or $0.47 per share in the year-ago period.
On average, two analysts polled by First Call/Thomson Financial expected the company to report a loss of $0.17 per share for the second quarter.
Net sales for the quarter increased to $87.68 million from $87.36 million in the same period last year. Comparable store sales increased 2.8% compared to a 10.5% decline in the year-earlier period. Comparable store sales in mall stores increased 7.2% and comparable store sales in off-mall stores increased 0.7%.
Commenting on the results, Robert Alderson, president and chief executive officer said," "We are pleased with the positive momentum in comparable store sales, the significant year-over-year improvement in margin, and the success of our Big Sale in July. We experienced the highest merchandise margin for the second quarter in over five years. "
For the first six months of the fiscal, the company reported a net loss of $4.25 million or $0.22 per share, compared to a net loss of $16.75 million or $0.86 per share in the first half of previous fiscal.
Half-yearly net sales increased 1.2% to $171.76 million from $169.67 million last year.
Looking ahead, Alderson said, "Our plan for fiscal 2008 is to produce year-over-year improvement in financial performance each quarter and leverage our lower cost structure. We remain solidly on track with that plan. Inventories are on plan and exceptionally clean as we head into the third quarter."
KIRK is currently trading at $2.41,up $0.07 or 2.99% on Nasdaq.
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