Women's apparel retailer J. Jill Inc. on Dec. 4 slightly lowered its full-year fiscal 2017 forecast as it reported results for the third quarter ended Oct. 28.
The Massachusetts–based retailer expects total comparable sales growth for the year to be between 4% and 5% from a prior expectation of high-single-digit growth in its second-quarter earnings report.
The company's GAAP diluted earnings-per-share forecast on a 53-week basis is now in the range of 64 to 66 cents, down from the guidance range of 73 to 77 cents it gave in the previous quarter. Similarly, adjusted diluted EPS was also lowered to the range of 72 to 74 cents from the previous guidance range of 81 to 85 cents.
For the third quarter ended Oct. 28, J Jill's total net sales came in at $162 million, up 1.6% from $159.4 million a year ago. Gross profit slightly increased to $108.5 million from $108.1 million a year ago, but income from operations fell to $13.3 million from $15.5 million in the third quarter of fiscal 2016. Adjusted diluted EPS for the period was 13 cents, higher than the S&P Capital mean consensus estimate of 9 cents but lower than the adjusted diluted EPS of 18 cents in the same period last year.
