Macy’s, Inc. Reports November/December Sales and Updates 2015 Guidance

06 Ene 2016, 00:00 AM EST

CINCINNATI–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Macy’s, Inc. (NYSE:M) today announced that its comparable sales on an
owned plus licensed basis declined by 4.7 percent in the months of
November and December 2015 combined, compared with the same period last
year.

On an owned basis, comparable sales declined by 5.2 percent in the
combined November/December period.

(Editor’s Note: Macy’s, Inc. this afternoon also issued a separate
news release outlining cost efficiencies and listing upcoming store
closings.)

“The holiday selling season was challenging, as experienced throughout
2015 by much of the retailing industry. In the November/December period,
we were particularly disadvantaged by the historically warm weather in
northern climate zones where both Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s are
especially well-represented. About 80 percent of our company’s
year-over-year declines in comparable sales can be attributed to
shortfalls in cold-weather goods such as coats, sweaters, boots, hats,
gloves and scarves. We also continued to feel the impact of lower
spending by international tourists as the value of the dollar remained
strong,” said Terry J. Lundgren, Macy’s, Inc. chairman and chief
executive officer.

“That said, we are buoyed by a very strong performance in our digital
business, with continued double-digit increases in online sales. In
November/December, we filled nearly 17 million online orders at
macys.com and bloomingdales.com – a new record for our company and an
increase of about 25 percent over last year – based on significant new
fulfillment capacity, site functionality and aggressive digital
marketing. This validates the strength of our omnichannel strategy and
related investments which we made over the past decade and will continue
into the future,” Lundgren said.

Please see the last page of this news release for important information
regarding the calculation of the company’s comparable sales on an owned
basis and comparable sales on an owned plus licensed basis.

Guidance

Macy’s, Inc. is not expecting a major change in sales trend in January
and expects a comparable sales decline on an owned plus licensed basis
in the fourth quarter of 2015 to approximate the 4.7 percent decline in
November/December (from previous guidance of down between 2 percent and
3 percent for the fourth quarter). This calculates to guidance for
comparable sales on an owned plus licensed basis in the full-year 2015
to decline by approximately 2.7 percent (from previous guidance of down
1.8 percent to 2.2 percent).

The decline in fourth quarter comparable sales on an owned basis is
expected to be approximately 50 basis points greater than on an owned
plus licensed basis.

Earnings per diluted share for the full-year 2015 now are expected in
the range of $3.85 to $3.90, excluding expenses related to cost
efficiencies announced today and asset impairment charges associated
primarily with spring 2016 store closings. This compares with previous
guidance in the range of $4.20 to $4.30. Updated annual guidance
calculates to guidance for fourth quarter earnings of $2.18 to $2.23 per
diluted share, excluding charges associated with cost efficiencies and
store closings. This compares with previous guidance for earnings per
diluted share of $2.54 to $2.64 in the fourth quarter. Earnings guidance
for 2015 includes an expected $250 million gain on the sale of real
estate in downtown Brooklyn.

Fourth Quarter Announcement

Macy’s, Inc. is scheduled to report fourth quarter sales and earnings on
Tuesday, Feb. 23, 2016. Additional detail on financial performance will
be provided at that time. The company will webcast a call with financial
analysts and investors at 9 a.m. ET on Feb. 23. Macy’s, Inc.’s webcast
is accessible to the media and general public via the company’s website
at www.macysinc.com.
Analysts and investors may call in on 1-888-806-6224, passcode 9176608.
A replay of the conference call can be accessed on the website or by
calling 1-888-203-1112 (same passcode) about two hours after the
conclusion of the call.

Macy’s, Inc., with corporate offices in Cincinnati and New York, is one
of the nation’s premier retailers, with fiscal 2014 sales of $28.015
billion. The company operates about 900 stores in 45 states, the
District of Columbia, Guam and Puerto Rico under the names of Macy’s,
Bloomingdale’s, Bloomingdale’s Outlet, Macy’s Backstage and Bluemercury,
as well as the macys.com, bloomingdales.com and bluemercury.com
websites. Bloomingdale’s in Dubai is operated by Al Tayer Group LLC
under a license agreement.

All statements in this press release that are not statements of
historical fact are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the
Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements are
based upon the current beliefs and expectations of Macy’s management and
are subject to significant risks and uncertainties. Actual results could
differ materially from those expressed in or implied by the
forward-looking statements contained in this release because of a
variety of factors, including conditions to, or changes in the timing
of, proposed transactions, prevailing interest rates and non-recurring
charges, competitive pressures from specialty stores, general
merchandise stores, off-price and discount stores, manufacturers’
outlets, the Internet, mail-order catalogs and television shopping and
general consumer spending levels, including the impact of the
availability and level of consumer debt, the effect of weather and other
factors identified in documents filed by the company with the Securities
and Exchange Commission.

(Note: additional information on Macy’s, Inc., including past news
releases, is available at www.macysinc.com/pressroom)

MACY’S, INC.

Important Information Regarding Non-GAAP Financial
Measures

(All amounts in millions except percentages)

The Company reports its financial results in accordance with generally
accepted accounting principles (GAAP). However, management believes that
certain non-GAAP financial measures provide users of the Company’s
financial information with additional useful information in evaluating
operating performance. See the table below for supplemental financial
data and a corresponding reconciliation to the most directly comparable
GAAP financial measures. This non-GAAP financial measure should be
viewed as supplementing, and not as an alternative or substitute for,
the Company’s financial results prepared in accordance with GAAP.
Certain of the items that may be excluded or included in this non-GAAP
financial measure may be significant items that could impact the
Company’s financial position, results of operations and cash flows and
should therefore be considered in assessing the Company’s actual
financial condition and performance. Additionally, the amounts received
by the Company on account of sales of departments licensed to third
parties are limited to commissions received on such sales. The methods
used by the Company to calculate its non-GAAP financial measures may
differ significantly from methods used by other companies to compute
similar measures. As a result, any non-GAAP financial measures presented
herein may not be comparable to similar measures provided by other
companies.

Macy’s, Inc. believes that providing changes in comparable sales on an
owned plus licensed basis, which includes the impact of growth in
comparable sales of departments licensed to third parties supplementally
to its results of operations calculated in accordance with GAAP assists
in evaluating the Company’s ability to generate sales growth, whether
through owned businesses or departments licensed to third parties, on a
comparable basis, and in evaluating the impact of changes in the manner
in which certain departments are operated.

			9 Weeks Ended January 2, 2016

Decrease in comparable sales on an owned basis (Note 1)			(5.2)%

Impact of growth in comparable sales of departments licensed to third parties (Note 2)			0.5 %

Decrease in comparable sales on an owned plus licensed basis			(4.7)%

Notes:

(1)		Represents the period-to-period change in net sales from stores in operation throughout the year presented and the immediately preceding year and all online sales, excluding commissions from departments licensed to third parties.
(2)		Represents the impact of including the sales of departments licensed to third parties occurring in stores in operation throughout the year presented and the immediately preceding year and via the Internet in the calculation of comparable sales. The Company licenses third parties to operate certain departments in its stores and online and receives commissions from these third parties based on a percentage of their net sales. In its financial statements prepared in conformity with GAAP, the Company includes these commissions (rather than sales of the departments licensed to third parties) in its net sales. The Company does not, however, include any amounts in respect of licensed department sales (or any commissions earned on such sales) in its comparable sales in accordance with GAAP (i.e. on an owned basis). The Company believes that the amounts of commissions earned on sales of departments licensed to third parties are not material to its results of operations for the periods presented.