On March 9, Big Lots (NYSE:BIG) released fourth-quarter earnings for the period ended Feb. 3.
- Sales rose 10.8%, fuelled by a comparable store sales increase of 4.9%.
- Operating improvements, especially in merchandising and inventory management, helped the company extract more value from its sales, as margins increased across the board.
- Management anticipates EPS for fiscal 2007 to grow in the range of 17%-22%.
(Figures in millions, except per-share data.)
Income Statement Highlights
|
Q4 2006 |
Q4 2005 |
Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Sales |
$1,545.4 |
$1,394.9 |
10.8% |
|
Net Profit* |
$91.6 |
$37.7 |
143.3% |
|
EPS* |
$0.83 |
$0.33 |
151.5% |
|
Diluted Shares |
111.0 |
114.0 |
(2.7%) |
Get back to basics with the income statement.
Margin Checkup
|
Q4 2006 |
Q4 2005 |
Change* | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Gross Margin |
40.5% |
37.1% |
3.4 |
|
Operating Margin |
8.9% |
4.5% |
4.4 |
|
Net Margin** |
5.9% |
2.7% |
3.2 |
**Continuing operations
Margins are the earnings engine.
Balance Sheet Highlights
|
Assets |
Q4 2006 |
Q4 2005 |
Change |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Cash + ST Invest. |
$281.7 |
$1.7 |
Big % |
|
Inventory |
$758.2 |
$836.1 |
(9.3%) |
|
Liabilities |
Q4 2006 |
Q4 2005 |
Change |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Accounts Payable |
$194.0 |
$170.0 |
14.1% |
|
Long-Term Debt* |
$0.0 |
$5.5 |
(100.0%) |
The balance sheet reflects the company's health.
Cash Flow Highlights
The company did not include a statement of cash flows in its release. We'll have to wait for the 10-K.
Free cash flow is a Fool's best friend.
Related Foolishness:
Dollar Tree is a Motley Fool Inside Value recommendation. Want to sweeten your portfolio without breaking the bank? Find more market-beating bargain stocks with a free 30-day guest pass.
Fool by Numbers is designed to give you the raw earnings information in a timely fashion, putting all the numbers you need in one easy-to-read place. But at The Motley Fool, we believe numbers tell only part of the story, so check Fool.com for more of our in-depth discussion of what the numbers mean. This data has been provided by Netscribes. To provide feedback on this article, please click on the "feedback" button below.
