CINCINNATI-Expenses related to early debt retirement cut Macy’s fourth-quarter net income by 2 percent to $730 million, while net income for the fiscal year rose 6.3 percent to $1.3 billion.
The department-store retailer posted $133 million in expenses related to the early retirement of about $700 million in outstanding debt in the quarter. Without those expenses, Macy’s net would have firmed by 15.8 percent in the quarter and 17.2 percent for the year.
Net sales in the quarter, which ended on Feb. 2, rose 7.2 percent to $9.4 billion, and included a pickup of 3.9 percent in same-store sales. For the fiscal year, net sales totaled $27.7 billion, up 4.9 percent in total and including a 3.7 percent same-store sales gain.
Terry Lundgren, Macy’s chairman, president and CEO, termed 2012 “another great year in our company’s evolving story of growth. The numbers reflect our success in pursuing the right strategies and executing them with conviction in every part of the business with a talented team we consider to be the best in retailing.”
Macy’s fourth-quarter gross margin slipped 40 basis points to 40.6 percent. Selling, general and administrative expenses were 3.7 percent higher in dollars but down 90 basis points as a percentage of sales, to 25.7 percent.
Looking ahead, Macy’s expects same-store sales growth of about 3.5 percent in fiscal 2013. Lundgren said the Macy’s team is moving ahead with an even sharper approach to localized merchandise assortments and marketing, and with its omnichannel strategies—designed to unite its efforts in Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s stores, online and mobile in a way that satisfies what he called “emerging shopping patterns.”