{"id":392488,"date":"2020-12-03T07:03:56","date_gmt":"2020-12-03T12:03:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.marketnewsdesk.com\/?p=392488"},"modified":"2020-12-03T07:03:56","modified_gmt":"2020-12-03T12:03:56","slug":"kirklands-reports-third-quarter-2020-results","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.marketnewsdesk.com\/index.php\/kirklands-reports-third-quarter-2020-results\/","title":{"rendered":"Kirkland’s Reports Third Quarter 2020 Results"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Announces new share repurchase authorization of $20 million<\/h2>\n

Third Quarter 2020 Financial Highlights:<\/h2>\n

– Net sales increased 1.2% to $146.6 million, with 51 fewer stores; comparable sales increased 8.9%, including e-commerce growth of 49.9%<\/h2>\n

– Gross profit margin of 36.1% compared with 27.7% in the prior year, an increase of 840 basis points, or $12.7 million<\/h2>\n

– Operating expenses of 27.2% of net sales compared with 37.5% in the prior year; excluding impairments a reduction of 810 basis points, or $11.3 million<\/h2>\n

– Earnings per diluted share of $0.82 compared with loss per diluted share of $1.61 in the prior year<\/h2>\n

– Adjusted earnings per diluted share of $0.66 compared with an adjusted loss per diluted share of $0.53 in the prior year, an improvement of $1.19<\/h2>\n

– EBITDA of $18.9 million compared with negative EBITDA of $7.3 million in the prior year; adjusted EBITDA of $18.7 million, or 12.7% of net sales, compared with negative adjusted EBITDA of $3.1 million in the prior year, an improvement of $21.7 million<\/h2>\n

– Operating income of $13.1 million compared with an operating loss of $14.2 million in the prior year; adjusted operating income of $12.8 million, or 8.8% of net sales, compared with adjusted operating loss of $9.9 million in the prior year, an improvement of $22.8 million<\/h2>\n

– Cash balance of $37.2 million with no outstanding debt; total liquidity of $106.9 million<\/h2>\n

– Store count at quarter end was 381 stores, with 6 additional stores closed in the quarter<\/h2>\n

– The Board of Directors authorized a share repurchase plan of $20 million<\/h2>\n

PR Newswire<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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\n NASHVILLE, Tenn.<\/span>, Dec. 3, 2020<\/span> \/PRNewswire\/ —\u00a0Kirkland’s, Inc. (NASDAQ: KIRK) today announced financial results for its third fiscal quarter ended October 31, 2020<\/span> and the authorization of a new share repurchase plan.<\/p>\n

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\n \"(PRNewsfoto\/Kirkland's,
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“The momentum we established late last year has continued through the third quarter with positive comparable sales in both the store and e-commerce channels exceeding our expectations, significant year-over-year margin improvement and permanent cost reductions driving earnings growth and cash generation,” noted Woody Woodward<\/span>, Chief Executive Officer. “While home furnishing is currently receiving the benefit of the reallocation of customer spending, there is much within this transformation of Kirkland’s that is a direct result of our own actions and investments. We have elevated the merchandise assortment with improved quality and design while maintaining our value proposition, improved our customer experience both in store and online and adapted our financial and operating infrastructure to maximize profitability.\u00a0 We are pleased with the impact these changes have had on our performance and are even more encouraged by the fact that the benefits have become very evident at these early stages of our evolution.” <\/p>\n

Mr. Woodward added, “The increased demand driven by our e-commerce channel and the strong performance in both our harvest and\u00a0Christmas season merchandise more than offset the 51 fewer stores in the base from a year ago. The late October re-launch of our loyalty program has already added hundreds of thousands of new members in a few weeks’ time, and we are pleased with the response to Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Similar to others in our sector, we continued to experience a shift to online during the month of November with Black Friday shopping spread out over a longer period. We believe we have established a good start to the fourth quarter by growing profitability with year-over-year margin gains and a solid comparable sales improvement, particularly in e-commerce.”<\/p>\n

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\n Strategic Priorities and Financial Goals<\/i>
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Kirkland’s key strategic initiatives include:<\/p>\n