Bedding retailer Mattress Firm said sales jumped 3.4% to $618.6 million in the quarter ended Feb. 2 as the company continued to add stores rapidly across the country.

Comparable-store sales grew 0.7%, and net income more than doubled when compared to the same quarter the previous fiscal year.

The latest results, however, do not include Mattress Firm’s blockbuster acquisition of Sleepy’s, which closed on Feb. 5, three days after the start of the retailer’s new fiscal year. In addition, the most recent quarter was 13 weeks, whereas the final quarter of the previous fiscal year was 14 weeks.

Net income totaled $13.3 million or 37 cents per share in the most recent quarter, up from $6.62 million or 19 cents per share in the previous year’s fourth quarter.

“We are pleased with our fourth-quarter results, which showed approximately 90 basis points of improvement in adjusted EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) and our tenth consecutive quarter of comparable store sales growth,” said Steve Stagner, who recently was elevated to executive chairman and chairman of the board. “With the recently completed Sleepy’s acquisition, we believe we are well positioned to realize meaningful synergies and leverage the benefits of national scale, driving continued growth, opportunities and profitability over time.”

Mattress Firm ended the fiscal year with 2,359 company-owned stores. During the year, the retailer acquired nine stores from a franchisee, opened 311 stores and closed 55.

The Sleepy’s deal has added more than 1,000 stores to that total, but the company said it evaluating its real estate portfolio and may close some underperforming stores, as well as some stores whose trading areas now overlap as a result of its many acquisitions during the past 24 months.

Excluding Sleepy’s, sales totaled $2.54 billion for the 52-week fiscal year ended Feb. 2, an increase of 40.7% from $1.81 billion in the previous 53-week fiscal year.

Net income for the most recent fiscal year totaled $64.5 million or $1.82 per share. That is up from $44.3 million or $1.27 per share the previous year.

Due to the Sleepy’s acquisition, the retailer said it expects to report a loss of 25 cents to 32 cents per share in the first fiscal quarter, but is projecting a profit of $2 to $2.05 per share for the fiscal year. That would represent earnings growth of about 11% from the just-concluded year.

Sales for the current fiscal year are projected at $3.95 billion to $4 billion. Comparable store sales growth is projected at 4% to 5.5%.

(Source: Furniture Today  Author: Larry Thomas)