On Thursday, J.Jill, Inc. (NYSE: JILL), the specialty women’s apparel retailer, announced its financial results for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2017. Revenue of the retailer beat estimates. However, with the weak outlook for the first quarter, shares of the company dropped 36.1% today after the announcement.
According to the company, revenue for the fourth quarter increased from $166.9 million for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2016 to $188.7 million, beating analysts’ estimates of $178.5 million. In addition, adjusting earnings per share for the fourth quarter increased from $0.08 per share for the same period last year to $0.13 per share, also beating expectations of $0.09 per share.
“2017 was a year of growth and learnings. While we finished the year with positive trends, there are also challenges that are being addressed. For the fourth quarter, we delivered positive comp performance of almost 9% driven by strong retail performance, and by the actions we took to clear inventory. Within our Direct channel, we completed the rollout of our new e-commerce platform, however results have not met expectations,” Paula Bennett, the President and CEO of J.Jill, said in the statement on Thursday.
Based on the results, the company provided guidance for the first quarter of fiscal 2018. For the first quarter, the company expected comparable sales to drop in the mid-single digit range, and diluted earnings per share are expected to be in the range of $0.18 per share to $0.20 per share, according to the retailer.
“As we turn to 2018, the teams are taking important learnings from 2017 and incorporating them throughout the business. Reigniting momentum in the Direct business and using this channel to capture market share is our top priority,” Paula continued.
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