Earnings Labs

The Buckle, Inc. (BKE)

Q4 2014 Earnings Call· Fri, Mar 13, 2015

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Transcript

Operator

Operator

Ladies and gentlemen, good morning. Thank you for standing by, and welcome to the Fourth Quarter Earnings Release Conference Call. [Operator Instructions] As a reminder, this conference is being recorded. Members of Buckle management on the call today are Dennis Nelson, President and CEO; Karen Rhoads, Senior Vice President of Finance and Chief Financial Officer; Pat Whisler, Senior Vice President of Women's Merchandising; Bob Carlberg, Senior Vice President of Men's Merchandising; Kyle Hanson, Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary; Tom Heacock, Vice President of Finance, Treasurer and Corporate Controller. As they review the operating results for the fourth quarter which ended January 31, they would like to reiterate their policy of not giving future sales or earnings guidance and have the following Safe Harbor statement: Safe Harbor Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All forward-looking statements made by the company involve material risk and uncertainties and are subject to change based on factors which may beyond the company's control. Accordingly, the company's future performance and financial results may differ materially from those expressed or implied in any such forward-looking statements. Such factors include, but are not limited to, those described in the company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The company does not undertake to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements even if they experience or future changes make it clear that any projected results expressed or implied there within are not realized. Additionally, the company does not authorize the reproduction or dissemination of transcripts or audio recordings of the company's quarterly conference calls without its written expressed consent. Any unauthorized reproductions or recording of the calls should not be replied upon -- relied on as information to be inaccurate. At this time, I'd like to turn the conference over to our host, Chief Financial Officer, Ms. Karen Rhoads. Please go ahead.

Karen Rhoads

Management

Thank you. And good morning, everyone. Thanks for joining the call this morning. We want to share with you our results. Our March 13, 2015 press release reported that net income for the 13-week fourth quarter that ended January 31, 2015, was $60.1 million or $1.25 per share on a diluted basis. That is compared to net income of $59.3 million or $1.23 per share on a diluted basis for the prior year 13-week fourth quarter that ended February 1, 2014. Our net income for the 52-week fiscal year that ended January 31, 2015, was $162.6 million or $3.38 per share on a diluted basis. That is compared to net income of $162.6 million or $3.39 per share on a diluted basis for the prior year 52-week fiscal year that ended February 1, 2014. Our net sales for the 13-week fourth quarter increased 4.3% to $353.5 million compared to net sales of $339.0 million for the prior year 13-week fourth quarter. Comparable store sales for the quarter were up 1.1% in comparison to the same 13-week period in the prior year. And our online sales, which for last fiscal year were not included in comparable store sales, increased 12.6% to $33.0 million. Net sales for the 52-week fiscal year increased 2.2% to $1.153 billion compared to net sales of $1.128 billion for fiscal 2013. Comparable store sales for the fiscal year were flat in comparison to the same 52-week period in the prior year. And online sales, which are not included in comparable store sales, increased 6.0% to $94.3 million. Gross margin for the quarter was 47.4%, down approximately 20 basis points from 47.6% for the fourth quarter last year. The decrease was driven by a 30 basis point reduction in merchandise margins, partially offset by reductions as a percentage…

Thomas Heacock

Management

Good morning, and thanks for joining us this morning. I'd like to start by highlighting the performance from our various merchandise categories for both the quarter and the full fiscal year. Men's merchandise sales for the quarter were up approximately 10%, with strong categories including denim and casual bottoms, woven and knit shirts, sweaters, outerwear and accessories. Average denim price points increased from $88.45 in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2013 to $91.25 in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2014. For the quarter, our men's business was approximately 47% of sales compared to 44.5% last year, and our average men's price points decreased approximately 1% from $59.90 to $59.35. For the full fiscal year, men's merchandise sales were up approximately 7%, with strong categories, again, including denim and casual bottoms, knit shirts, sweaters, shorts, outerwear and accessories. Average denim price points increased from $89.15 in fiscal 2013 to $92.05 in fiscal 2014. For the full year, our men's business was approximately 43.5% of sales compared to 41.5% last year and our average men's price points increased slightly from $55.60 to $55.85. Women's merchandise sales for the fourth quarter were flat in comparison to the same period last year, and strong categories included woven and knit tops, sweaters, active apparel, outerwear and footwear. Our average denim price points on the women's side increased from $98.85 in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2013 -- sorry, decreased from $98.85 in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2013 to $98.20 in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2014. For the quarter, our women's business was approximately 53% of net sales compared to 55.5% last year and our average women's price points increased approximately 4.5% from $49.80 to $52.05. For the full fiscal year, women's merchandise sales were down approximately 1%, with strong categories including casual bottoms,…

Operator

Operator

[Operator Instructions] Our first question today comes from Ed Yruma with KeyBanc Capital.

Edward Yruma

Analyst · KeyBanc Capital

Dennis, I have a bigger-picture question first. 2014 was really the first kind of flattish earnings that you guys have had since 2008. I'm just trying to understand, was it the environment? Was it denim? Was there something you could have done differently? And then I guess, is this kind of the earnings trajectory we should expect from Buckle going forward?

Dennis Nelson

Analyst · KeyBanc Capital

I think it was a combination of things. The denim cycle in the ladies was a little more challenging after all our years of growth. So that was a little bit of it. I think the challenging environment was part of it. So a combination of things. I'm sure there's things where we are working on to continue to improve that we feel like we're in a very good position going forward. And as you know, we don't make forward projections. So thank you.

Edward Yruma

Analyst · KeyBanc Capital

Got it. And a follow-up. I was wondering if you could give us an update on how the kids' assortment in the stores that you have is performing and whether this is something you expect to take more spaces in the store.

Dennis Nelson

Analyst · KeyBanc Capital

Yes. We've been pretty happy with our kids' business. And I know in the boys part of it, we plan to expand more stores for back-to-school. Spring and summer, we are kind of maintaining the status quo for the number of stores we have. But it's been a nice plus. Still a very small part of our business, but we do like it.

Operator

Operator

Our next question today comes from the line of Simeon Siegel representing Nomura Securities.

Simeon Siegel

Analyst

Karen, can you talk about merch margin dynamics? With AUR up but merchandise margin is down, is that mainly driven by mix? And then I guess maybe to the past question, how do you view the promotional environment in general? So maybe what's the right way to think about that going forward? And then just -- I think you had initially said it will be minimal, but can you just update was there any impact from the port strike?

Karen Rhoads

Management

I was going to say I'll let the merchandisers cover the port strike. But on the merch margin, I think a little bit of the gains came from markdowns. It would be combined a little bit product -- with product mix. But actually, where we kind of cleaned up on the markdowns at the end of the year, I think we feel pretty good about where that product is at the current time. I don't know, Dennis, if you have any further comments on [indiscernible].

Dennis Nelson

Analyst · KeyBanc Capital

No, I mean, it's pretty much a seasonal deal and kind hits certain points. But we feel very good about our margin, our inventory. So we're ready for spring there. On the port strikes, we did have several categories that impact to a certain degree and probably started toward mid, late November. We started seeing the impact and have the deliveries anywhere from 2 to 10 weeks late. And so that has had an effect in starting for spring.

Operator

Operator

Our next question today comes from the line of Thomas Filandro with SIG.

Thomas Filandro

Analyst · SIG

Dennis, could you expand -- or maybe Karen, as well, expand a little on that port comment. Is there a lingering issue here that we should be concerned about? Are you seeing any staggering of product coming in for the spring season? And then I have 2 other questions. Just that one quick, please.

Dennis Nelson

Analyst · SIG

Okay. Yes, we still have some delays on some of our product. We have started to see a better pickup over the last 10 days on product coming in, but there could still be some impact to that business.

Thomas Filandro

Analyst · SIG

And the next question I have is sort of an odd question. But there has been some concern out there that your business could be negatively impacted in the so-called shelf space with employment issues. So I'd be curious if you experienced any regional variance in the business and particularly, trying to highlight those shelf space. And then a question for both Pat and Bob, just can you tell us what you're seeing in terms of trends for either brands or silhouettes in denim and any comments about any trends in tops for spring?

Dennis Nelson

Analyst · SIG

Okay. Regards to the regional, through fourth quarter, we did not see any real change in what was going on in our stores. So I'll defer to Bob and Pat now.

Robert Carlberg

Analyst · SIG

Well, on the men's side for denim, we're seeing some movement toward the straights or kind of the slimmer bottom openings. A lot of light and destructed seems to be working. From the top side, we've just really continued to get past the competitors as far as bodies, fabrics, washes, colors, blocking, just making the product a lot more interesting. So on a 360-degree look at the products, you would see details on all aspects of the product.

Patricia Whisler

Analyst · SIG

This is Pat. And on the denim side for the ladies, what I really enjoy is that we kind of had a quiet cycle there on denim. It was very a singular focus, and I see that opening up a little bit, which we are loving. Plays kind of into our strong suit. More destructed denims, just some nice abrasions in a variety of fabrics and finishes. So we feel good about the denim picture. Our tops continue to be a great mix of private label and branded. We have a brand -- in-house brand by Gimmicks, which is kind of a cornerstone brand for us. And it's performing very well and just kind of enhances the whole top selection. But we're getting West Coast brands, a nice blend of in-house brands and overall, feeling pretty good about the mix.

Operator

Operator

Next, we'll go to the line of Paul Alexander with BB&T Capital.

Paul Alexander

Analyst

Just a follow-up on that denim point. Do you think there's enough trend out there now where you think you can return women's denim to positive territory? And then a follow-up question. Can you talk about the increase in e-commerce growth in fourth quarter? Was that driven by new investments or projects or was it more clearance-related? And does that channel the outperformance versus stores makes you -- make you think any differently about e-com investment going forward?

Dennis Nelson

Analyst · KeyBanc Capital

This is Dennis. I'll take the gals' denim part. We're seeing more interest in a variety of brands as well as what Pat mentioned as far as different finishes and we're still selling variety of different fits. And so we are encouraged with what we have going on there. And then I'll -- Kyle, do you want to comment on the online?

Kyle Hanson

Analyst

Sure. We increased our support for paid search, and that also led to some new acquisition strategies primarily in fourth quarter. And then worked with some targeted display services, tested some of those and then actually increase our e-mail volume.

Patricia Whisler

Analyst · SIG

I just might add -- this is Pat again, I might add to that. I think our teams did an excellent job of maximizing the inventory levels as we went into the quarter and getting us some good shape on our product selection. We've also worked on enhancing our visual presentation of product online and have a team focus on that aspect going forward. And then there's more of an overlap there with merchandising. And we have Kelly Molesick [ph], who is working closely with that team as well.

Operator

Operator

Your next question comes from the line of Liz Pierce, representing Bean Capital -- Brean Capital.

Elizabeth Pierce

Analyst · Liz Pierce, representing Bean Capital -- Brean Capital

Nice job on the quarter. I'm going to just kind of follow-up on a couple of other questions that have already been asked. On the kids' business, Dennis, so you mentioned that you're going to expand the boys, but I noticed that there seems to be more kind of visuals on the website on all of them. So does that mean the girls is outperforming on the web versus the store?

Dennis Nelson

Analyst · Liz Pierce, representing Bean Capital -- Brean Capital

We started the ladies' side more aggressively than the boys and actually 6 to 12 months kind of ahead of the boys. So we have expanded the product lines there and have a little more experience with it. And so what you'll see for back-to-school is kind of the men's adding additional stores to kind of have about the same level as the ladies.

Elizabeth Pierce

Analyst · Liz Pierce, representing Bean Capital -- Brean Capital

Okay. So basically playing catch-up?

Dennis Nelson

Analyst · Liz Pierce, representing Bean Capital -- Brean Capital

Somewhat, yes.

Elizabeth Pierce

Analyst · Liz Pierce, representing Bean Capital -- Brean Capital

Okay. All right. It looks really cute. And I also just wanted to -- I'll say to Pat, on her visuals, because I think that the website looks so much better and I was wondering if that had a lot to do with the year-over-year increase. But clearly, it's a couple of things. So anyway, that's all I have.

Operator

Operator

[Operator Instructions] And we will go to the line of Steve Marotta with CL King & Associates.

Steven Marotta

Analyst

Can you please talk about e-commerce initiatives for the current year and what's going on there in order to drive increase sales?

Karen Rhoads

Management

Thanks for the question. In addition to working with the visuals, as Pat mentioned, we are going to continue just to review our paid search programs as well as looking at strengthening or retarding services through display. And new acquisition, making sure that we're watching our e-mail list attrition rate and being wise in how we're spending our dollars there in marketing perspective.

Patricia Whisler

Analyst · SIG

And the only thing I can think to add there is we do have the same overlap onto our e-mail approach, which I think is working well.

Operator

Operator

[Operator Instructions] And we'll go to the line of Lee Giordano's with CRT Capital.

Lee Giordano

Analyst

Just on the 9 new stores for this year, wondering if that's the maximum if the plans are finalized? Or if you might be renting that up even further? That's it.

Dennis Nelson

Analyst · KeyBanc Capital

I mean, it's possible that there could be another 1 or 2 added. But for planning stages, it's getting a little late. So I would -- my best guess is it will stay at 9.

Operator

Operator

Presenters, there are no other participants queuing up at this time.

Karen Rhoads

Management

Okay. With no other calls coming in then or questions coming up, we would like to thank everybody for joining us today and wish everyone a great weekend.

Operator

Operator

Ladies and gentlemen, this conference will be available for replay starting at 11:00 a.m. this morning and running through March 27 at midnight. You may access the AT&T Executive Playback service at any time by dialing 1 (800) 475-6701 and entering the access code of 35530 -- or 370. Once again, that's 355370. International participants may dial (320) 365-3844. And that does conclude our conference for today. We thank you for your participation and using the AT&T Executive Teleconference. You may now disconnect.