MWM
15 years ago
Saks Incorporated Announces March Comparable Store Sales
Apr 8, 2010 8:30:00 AM
Copyright Business Wire 2010
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Retailer Saks Incorporated (NYSE: SKS) (the "Company") today announced that owned sales totaled $238.2 million for the five weeks ended April 3, 2010 compared to $209.8 million for the five weeks ended April 4, 2009, a 13.6% increase. Comparable store sales increased 12.7% for the month.
On a quarter-to-date basis, for the two months ended April 3, 2010, owned sales totaled $410.0 million compared to $376.4 million for the two months ended April 4, 2009, an 8.9% increase. Comparable store sales increased 7.9% for the two-month period.
For March, the strongest categories at Saks Fifth Avenue stores were women's designer and WEAR (bridge) apparel; women's shoes; handbags; fashion jewelry; and men's apparel, shoes, and accessories. Saks Direct and OFF 5TH performed well for the month.
March 2010 included one electronic gift card ("EGC") promotional event at the Saks Fifth Avenue stores, and March 2009 included two EGC events.
Saks Incorporated operates 53 Saks Fifth Avenue stores, 55 Saks OFF 5TH stores, and saks.com.
MWM
15 years ago
The Millionaires Are Back
Alexandra Zendrian, 03.30.10, 06:00 AM EDT
Luxury retailers are reaping the benefits of a more confident, wealthy consumer. Buy Nordstrom and Coach.
During the housing boom in the middle of the last decade, luxury retailers reaped the benefits of home-rich consumers, many of whom sucked out their home equity as soon as it built--or even more quickly--taking out home equity lines and spending like the proverbial drunken sailor, but these sailors had style and a taste for the finer things.
All of the flashy spending made everybody a little giddy. In May 2005 private equity investors Texas Pacific and Warburg Pincus paid $5.1 billion for Neiman Marcus Group, parent of the eponymously named poster child for needless indulgence, Neiman Marcus, and its Bergdorf Goodman subsidiary.
When the housing market headed south and eventually imploded, there was a lot of omelette du fromage on the face to go around as the erstwhile nouveau riche profligate home buyers came up dry on equity and went back the dollar store. For many of the high-end retailers, comparable sales numbers plunged more than 20% for three quarters in a row at the end of 2008 and into 2009.
With the housing market minting no more millionaires, the luxury market if it were to boom again would need a new driver of wealth creation--and it found it in an old friend, the stock market.
Nordstrom ( JWN - news - people ), like other high-end retailers, has seen a sales boost lately as consumers emerge from the recession more confident and better able to spend more--not to mention a little richer than they were a year ago thanks to the sharp rebound in stocks since last March.
Investors in luxury retail stocks have already benefited handsomely, maybe even enough to indulge in a few $25,000 Neiman Marcus cupcake cars. Since the market bottom last March, Nordstrom shares have zoomed higher by 246%, Coach ( COH - news - people ) is up 247% and Saks ( SKS - news - people ) has been a monster stock, gaining 395%. The consumer recovery is concentrated at the higher end, which benefits luxury retailers such as these.
MWM
15 years ago
Cramer's Lightning Round Picks (MICC, SKS, TIF, JWN, RL, ST, ZMH, ABT, PM, BGCP, X, NUE)
Posted on 03/24/10 at 9:55pm by Craig Jones
CNBC Mad Money's Jim Cramer was pretty bullish while answering fans' questions in the Lightning Round. He said that he always liked Millicom International Cellular SA (USA) (NASDAQ: MICC) and that the caller should hold his long position.
Cramer likes Saks Incorporated (NYSE: SKS). He thinks it is a good stocks and likes its growth plans. Saks (SKS) gained 2.23% today. In the space he also likes Tiffany (NYSE: TIF), Nordstrom, Inc. (NYSE: JWN [FREE Stock Trend Analysis]) and Ralf Lauren (NYSE: RL).
MWM
15 years ago
Citi Reiterates a 'Buy' Rating on Saks Inc (SKS)
March 24, 2010 9:22 AM EDT
Citi reiterates a 'Buy' rating on Saks Inc (NYSE: SKS), price target $10.
Citi analyst says, "We hosted an informative meeting with SKS management and are encouraged by the company’s recent business trends, which include better fullpriced selling and aligned inventories. SKS is even chasing inventory in select categories such as handbags and shoes, and noted that it has the ability to chase about 5% of inventories based on high-end lead times...Direct represents SKS’s second largest store (with better margins than the stores), and management believes the business can double in the next 3-4 years. Notably, multi-channel shoppers spend 70% more than single-channel customers."
MWM
15 years ago
CEO says Saks may close a few stores
Tue Mar 23, 2010 12:42pm EDT
* Could close money-losing stores with leases coming due
* Only a few stores meet both criteria - CEO
* Operating margins may return to 2007 levels - CEO
NEW YORK, March 23 (Reuters) - Saks Inc (SKS.N) Chief Executive Stephen Sadove raised the possibility of the luxury department store operator closing a handful of underperforming stores as the retailer seeks to lift margins back to 2007 levels.
Sadove, speaking on Tuesday at an investor conference that was broadcast over the Internet, said Saks could eventually close perennially money-losing locations but that any closings "are predicated on whether there is a lease coming due."
"There are a few stores," which meet both criteria, Sadove said.
Sadove explained that breaking a lease early is a costly proposition for anchor tenants, which typically pay lower rent to mall operators because they draw a critical mass of shoppers to the site.
The company operates 53 Saks Fifth Avenue full-service stores and 55 Off 5th outlet stores in the United States.
Excluding some one-time items, Saks last month reported a surprise quarterly profit on the strength of improving sales over the holiday, and said it expected results to continue improving this year. [ID:nN23241228]
Sadove, at the conference, went on to say that Saks' operating margins could rebound to levels last reached in 2007, before the financial crisis and recession sent luxury spending into a tailspin. In 2007, operating margins were about 4 percent.
Sadove also said Saks "was just scratching the surface" of the potential of the Internet and said online sale could double within a few years. The company does not break out the share of sales that come from its saks.com website.
Saks shares were up 3.4 percent in midday trading, following an upgrade by JP Morgan. [ID:nSGE62M0JN] (Reporting by Phil Wahba; editing by Gunna Dickson)
MWM
15 years ago
Saks upgraded to overweight by J.P. Morgan
By Andria Cheng SKS
New YORK (MarketWatch) -- Luxury retailer Saks Inc. (SKS 9.34, +0.58, +6.62%) was upgraded to overweight from neutral by J.P. Morgan on Tuesday. Analyst Charles Grom, following a meeting with Saks management, also raised his 2010 price target on the stock to $11 from $7. Saks has increased same-store sales for three straight months as its core shoppers visited its more often and luxury spending has returned from a hiatus, the analyst said. The company also has cut costs and has a solid plan to increase its sales per square foot among moves that will narrow its gaps with rivals, he said, adding Internet and the Off 5th discount outlets also present growth opportunities.
MWM
15 years ago
Italy's Della Valle again boosts Saks stake
Wed Mar 17, 2010 12:10pm
* Della Valle buys 3.6 mln shares for $30.2 mln
* Now owns 9.4 pct, up from 5.3 pct as of March 7
* Shares up 15.2 pct since start of trading March 8
CHICAGO, March 17 (Reuters) - Italian businessman Diego Della Valle continued his shopping spree at Saks Inc (SKS.N) in recent days, buying millions of new shares on top of recent stock purchases and nearly doubling his stake in the luxury U.S. department store chain since early March.
The transactions have raised his ownership in the retailer to 9.4 percent, bringing him closer to the 16.1 percent held by Saks' top shareholder, Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim, according to Thomson Reuters data.
In a number of transactions between last Thursday and Tuesday, Della Valle bought another 3.6 million shares for $30.2 million, according to a filing on Wednesday with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
These stock purchases closely follow a series of transactions early last week and have brought the total number of Saks shares Della Valle holds to 15 million.
As of March 7, he owned 8.5 million shares, or 5.3 percent of Saks shares.
Della Valle, the chief executive officer of Italian designer shoe and bag maker and Saks supplier Tod's SpA (TOD.MI), also owns the Fiorentina soccer club.
Saks shares were up 1 cent at $8.49 in midday trading. They have risen 15.2 percent since the start of trading on March 8, when Della Valle began buying up shares. (Reporting by Phil Wahba; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn)
MWM
15 years ago
huge new Buys by yet another Millionare!
On May 18, 2009 Diego Della Valle, owner of Tod's, announced the purchase of a share of 5.9% of U.S. luxury department stores Saks Fifth Avenue for 30.3 million dollars, becoming the second largest shareholder. According to Bloomberg Della Valle bought 8,500,000 securities between February 20 and May 15. The founder of Tod's could start negotiations to become a shareholder 'strategic and long-term' of Saks. Della Valle comes in addition to the list of billionaires who have interests at Saks: the largest shareholder with a share of 18% is the Mexican telecommunications magnate Carlos Slim.
MWM
15 years ago
Source and Amount of Funds or Other Consideration.
Item 3 of Schedule 13D is hereby amended and restated in its entirety to read as follows:
During the period from February 20, 2009 and May 7, 2009, DDV acquired 8,480,000 Shares through a series of purchases from authorized brokers for total consideration of $30,330,726 (including commissions) in cash paid from its working capital.
During the period from March 8, 2010 and March 10, 2010, DDV acquired additional 2,900,000 Shares through a series of purchases from authorized brokers for total consideration of $22,333,270 (including commissions) in cash paid from its working capital.
During the period from March 11, 2010 and March 16, 2010, DDV acquired additional 3,620,000 Shares through a series of purchases from authorized brokers for total consideration of $30,153,229 (including commissions) in cash paid from its working capital.
Date of Purchase Amount of Common Stock
Purchased Price Per Share
March 8, 2010 900,000 7.6133
March 9, 2010 1,100,000 7.6313
March 10, 2010 900,000 7.8743
March 11, 2010 900,000 7.9952
March 12, 2010 469,500 8.2154
March 15, 2010 1,000,000 8.4234
March 16, 2010 1,250,500 8.5382
MWM
15 years ago
Moody's lifts Saks outlook to stable
Moody's lifts Saks outlook to stable, upgrades senior unsecured notes
Tuesday March 16, 2010, 1:58 pm EDT
NEW YORK (AP) -- Moody's Investors Service lifted its outlook for Saks Inc. on Tuesday, saying the luxury retailer is likely to fatten operating income over the next two quarters.
Moody's boosted Saks' rating to stable from negative and also upgraded its senior unsecured notes one notch in junk status to "B3" from "Caa1" on the repayment of a revolving credit agreement.
All other ratings were maintained, including the "B2," or junk, corporate family rating and the "B3," or junk, probability of default rating.
Earlier this month, the International Council of Shopping Centers reported that shoppers returned in surprising numbers during February.
Shoppers largely ignored snowstorms and ongoing fears about the economy and headed back through the doors of luxury retail stores.
Luxury chains like Saks have helped that process along. The company is putting more emphasis on lower prices and concentrating on its discount Off Fifth chain.
Shares of Saks added 10 cents to $8.52 in afternoon trading. The stock reached a 52-week high of $8.55 earlier in the session.
MWM
15 years ago
45 million shares short out of the 105 million share float...
Short Interest (Shares Short) 45,616,300
Days To Cover (Short Interest Ratio) 14.9
Short Percent of Float 42.86 %
Short Interest - Prior 46,061,300
Short % Increase / Decrease -0.97 %
Short Squeeze Ranking™ 2,438
% From 52-Wk High ($ 8.32 ) 1.07 %
% From 52-Wk Low ($ 1.55 ) 81.57 %
% From 200-Day MA ($ 6.01 ) 28.54 %
% From 50-Day MA ($ 6.99 ) 16.88 %
Price % Change (52-Week) 381.80 %
Shares Float 106,441,665
Total Shares Outstanding 159,573,704
makesumgravy
15 years ago
Saks Incorporated Announces June Comparable Store Sales
Date : 07/09/2009 @ 8:30AM
Source : Business Wire
Stock : Saks Incorporated (SKS)
Quote : 4.37 0.03 (0.69%) @ 9:47AM
Saks Incorporated Announces June Comparable Store Sales
Retailer Saks Incorporated (NYSE: SKS) (the “Company”) today announced that owned sales totaled $230.2 million for the five weeks ended July 4, 2009 compared to $239.3 million for the five weeks ended July 5, 2008, a 3.8% decrease. Comparable store sales decreased 4.4% for the month.
On a quarter-to-date basis, for the two months ended July 4, 2009, owned sales totaled $396.2 million compared to $463.2 million for the two months ended July 5, 2008, a 14.5% decrease. Comparable store sales decreased 15.2% for the two-month period.
On a year-to-date basis, for the five months ended July 4, 2009, owned sales totaled $1,011.3 million compared to $1,305.7 million for the five months ended July 5, 2008, a 22.5% decrease. Comparable store sales decreased 23.2% for the five-month period.
June sales performance was positively affected by the shift of a designer sale event into June this year from May last year. Management continues to estimate that comparable store sales will decline in the mid-teen range for the second fiscal quarter.
The Saks Fifth Avenue stores experienced continued weakness across all merchandise categories during the month. Saks Direct showed relative strength in June.
Prior year numbers have been adjusted to remove the sales of the Company’s discontinued Club Libby Lu operations.
Saks Incorporated operates 53 Saks Fifth Avenue stores, 54 Saks OFF 5TH stores, and saks.com.
makesumgravy
16 years ago
Saks Incorporated Announces March Comparable Store Sales
Date : 04/09/2009 @ 8:30AM
Source : Business Wire
Stock : Saks Incorporated (SKS)
Quote : 4.98 0.68 (15.81%) @ 8:00PM
Saks Incorporated Announces March Comparable Store Sales
Retailer Saks Incorporated (NYSE: SKS) (the “Company”) today announced that owned sales totaled $209.4 million for the five weeks ended April 4, 2009 compared to $276.2 million for the five weeks ended April 5, 2008, a 24.2% decrease. Comparable store sales decreased 23.6% for the month.
On a year-to-date basis, for the two months ended April 4, 2009, owned sales totaled $376.4 million compared to $503.8 million for the two months ended April 5, 2008, a 25.3% decrease. Comparable store sales decreased 24.6% for the two month period.
The Saks Fifth Avenue stores experienced continued weakness across all merchandise categories. Saks Direct and OFF 5TH showed relative strength in March.
Saks Incorporated operates 53 Saks Fifth Avenue stores, 52 Saks OFF 5TH stores, and saks.com.
makesumgravy
16 years ago
Saks Sees Hope In Lower-Cost Products,Expanding Outlet Stores
Date : 04/01/2009 @ 12:49PM
Source : Dow Jones News
Stock : Saks Inc. (SKS)
Quote : 4.98 0.68 (15.81%) @ 8:00PM
Saks Sees Hope In Lower-Cost Products,Expanding Outlet Stores
By Karen Talley
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
NEW YORK -(Dow Jones)- While still planning to retain its status as a luxury retailer, Saks Inc. (SKS) is rejiggering to sell a greater amount of less-costly name-brand merchandise, and evolving its outlets to be choice destinations, not just places to offload overstock from stores.
"In terms of the merchandizing mix, you're seeing an evolution of what the consumer wants," said Chief Executive Officer Stephen Sadove on Wednesday during a consumer conference sponsored by Telsey Advisory Group.
High net worth individuals like those who shop at Saks are very attuned to the way the stock market is acting because so much of their wealth is tied up in it.
"They don't feel good, because they don't know whether this market is going to go to 4000 (on the Dow Jones Industrial Average) or whether it's going to stay at 7500 and slowly grow from there," Sadove said.
But even after confidence begins returning, "there are going to be some mix changes," Sadove said. "You're going to be seeing a migration, not so much from a high brand name to a low brand name but within the brands" to lower-costing items in many cases.
Saks is doing its buying in anticipation of the shift and working with vendors to receive better margins on what it is purchasing, Sadove said.
The strategy is similar to the one being taken by fellow high-end merchandiser Nordstrom Inc. (JWN) as it, too, tries to bring in more lower-costing items within brands as a way of adjusting to its upper-end customers' changed shopping habits.
At the same time, with so many high-end boutiques closing, more exclusive merchandise should migrate Saks' way, Sadove said.
Saks is also seeing its Off 5th outlets performing "substaintially better than the full-line business" and the company wants to capitalize on the shift, Sadove said. "We are much more making product for the (outlet) channel as opposed to relying on the leftovers from either our stores or our vendors."
Saks operates 51 Off 5th outlets, with plans to open another three to five this year and projected 5% to 10% square footage growth each year over the next several years.
The outlets are "volume and profit movers," Sadove said.
Saks' goal is to be cash flow positive this year, Sadove said, in other words having more cash coming in than going out.
Additional efforts to help achieve the goal include taking a more local approach to its customer base, an initiative Macy's Inc. (M) has been touting as the key for its planned success.
Saks plans more private-label merchandise, where margins can be better. The measure will be more apparent on the men's side, "but we will always be a house of brands," Sadove said.
Saks is using more Web-based point-of-sale systems, which Sadove called "probably one of the most valuable tools in terms of touching the customer in a difficult environment."
Department managers are being told to pitch in more when it comes to selling alongside regular salespeople.
But progress may be slow, with sales remaining a major challenge.
Comparable-store sales are expected, on average, to show declines in the 20% area this year, Sadove said.
Saks' sees its gross margin declining in the first half of the year followed by "dramatic" improvement in the second half, because of all the margin slicing discounting it did during around the 2008 holiday season.
To achieve better margins, Saks has been cutting its inventory receipts. Capital expenditures are also going to be way down, to around $60 million from $130 million in 2008.
The retailer has been one of the hardest hit by the recession, swinging to a fiscal fourth-quarter loss on slumping sales and margins as its steep markdowns failed to stem the woes now hitting high-end chains.
Standard & Poor's Ratings Services recently lowered its credit ratings for Saks debt deeper into junk territory on expectations the company will be more challenged than expected during the recession.
But Sadove said Saks is responding to the changed environment.
"We are structuring the company assuming that the sales base will be lower," Sadove said. "We are not assuming that it's going to be 'V,' and that this thing is going to come right back to where it was. We are making adjustments where we believe that the world is changing."
Shares of Saks are up 4.3%, or 8 cents, to $1.95. The stocks has lost 85% of its value over the past year and trades close to its 52-week low of $1.50.
-By Karen Talley, Dow Jones Newswires; 201-938-5106; karen.talley@dowjones.com
makesumgravy
16 years ago
Retail Stocks End 1Q With A Gain, But It Wasn't Easily Won
Date : 03/31/2009 @ 4:24PM
Source : Dow Jones News
Stock : Saks Inc. (SKS)
Quote : 4.98 0.68 (15.81%) @ 8:00PM
Retail Stocks End 1Q With A Gain, But It Wasn't Easily Won
By Karen Talley
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
NEW YORK -(Dow Jones)- Retail stocks went through heavy discounting and markups during a rollicking first quarter that culminated with a buying surge that put the group in the green by March's end.
With the last session of the quarter just about over, the Standard & Poor's Retail Index is ahead 18% for the month and up 6.3% so far this year. With an advance of 0.7% to 282.37 on Tuesday, the index is on pace to show a gain for the final day of first-quarter trading, after starting the session to the downside.
A late-quarter surge followed improvement in same-store sales and a general market rally on some improved sentiment about a quicker recovery for banks and the general economy.
Retail stocks were fast out of the gate as 2009 began, rising 8% in the first three days of trading to close at 301.62 on Jan. 6. The surge was part of a 41% comeback after the group bottomed at 213.50 on Nov. 20 as the economy -- and retail sales -- dramatically deteriorated.
The bottom marked a 60% descent from the record high of 537.21 that the index reached on Feb. 20, 2007.
It was a broadly good month for retail shares, with all but nine of the S&P Retail Index's roughly 95 members rising.
In many cases percentage moves were expansive because the stocks came into the year at such depressed levels as investors fretted about retailers' futures.
Regional retailer Stein Mart Inc. (SMRT) led advancers in March, rising 146% to $2.95. Zale Corp. (ZLC), part of the hard-hit jewelry group, gained 63%. Charlotte Russe Holding Inc. (CHIC), which put itself up for sale, advanced 55% in March.
Saks (SKS), a struggler from last year, lost another 22% for the month, part of its 57% loss for the quarter. AnnTaylor Stores Inc. (ANN) dropped 18% in March and 6.6% for the first quarter. OfficeMax Inc. (OMX) fell 15% for the month and is now down 58% for the first three months of 2009.
-By Karen Talley, Dow Jones Newswires; 201-938-5106
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