Pier 1 Imports Inc. said Thursday it swung to a fiscal fourth-quarter profit, helped by improved gross profit margins, higher same-store sales and lower expenses.
The home furnishing retailer reported earnings of $13.7 million, or 16 cents per share, compared with a loss of $58.7 million, or 67 cents per share, in the prior year.
Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial expected net income of 7 cents per share.
Gross profit margins were 31.8 percent of sales compared with 24.6 percent in the previous year.
Selling, general and administrative expenses dropped to $114.6 million from $164.8 million.
Revenue for the period ended March 1 declined 8 percent to $436.7 million from $473.7 million due to some store closings and one less week in the quarter than the year-ago period.
Analysts predicted sales of $448.2 million, on average.
Same-store sales grew 2.5 percent.
Same-store sales, or sales at stores open at least a year, is a key indicator of retailer performance since it measures growth at existing stores rather than newly opened ones.
Pier 1 reported a full-year loss of $96 million, or $1.09 per share, compared with a loss of $227.6 million, or $2.59 per share, a year earlier.
Annual sales slipped 7 percent to $1.51 billion from $1.62 billion.
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