Sales up as losses decrease for West Marine in Q1
West Marine, Inc. reported Thursday financial results for the first quarter ended April 2, 2016.
The company reported net revenues of $130.4 million in the quarter, an increase of 2.6 percent compared to the same period last year. Comparable store sales increased 2.7 percent. Pre-tax loss was $15.2 million compared to a pre-tax loss of $18.1 million last year.
“We are pleased with the first quarter comparable store sales, including a 32 percent increase in eCommerce revenue,” said CEO Matt Hyde. “The team continues to succeed in positioning product and services to meet the changing needs of our customers, while at the same time improving profitability. This resulted in our gross margin expanding by 400 basis points compared to the same period last year.”
Net revenues for the 13 weeks ended April 2, 2016 increased by $3.3 million, or 2.6 percent, to $130.4 million compared to $127.1 million for the 13 weeks ended April 4, 2015.
Gross margin expanded to 25.2 percent of revenue compared to 21.2 percent during the same period in 2015, as higher revenue leveraged building and supply chain expenses as well as favorable improvements in vendor costs. Selling, general and administrative expense increased year-over-year as a result of higher expenses in the quarter from the company’s biennial training meeting and higher benefit expenses.
Net loss for the first quarter was $9.1 million, or $0.37 per share, compared to net loss of $10.3 million, or $0.42 per share, for the first quarter of 2015.
Read the full earnings release here.
