Caleres posts $77 million loss in Q4

By

Robin Driver

Published
Mar 17, 2021

St. Louis, Missouri-based footwear company Caleres announced a net loss of $77.0 million, or $2.11 per diluted share, for the fourth quarter ended January 30, 2021, on Tuesday, as Covid-19 continued to negatively affect the group’s operations. In the fourth quarter of fiscal 2019, Caleres reported net earnings of $0.4 million, or $0.01 per diluted share.

The company’s net sales for Q4 2020 totaled $571.0 million, falling 18.3% from $698.9 million in the same period in the previous year. This reflected a 6.2% decline in revenue in the group’s Famous Footwear retail chain and a larger 32.4% drop in sales in the company’s brand portfolio, which includes the Sam Edelman, Allen Edmonds, Dr Scholl’s Shoes and Naturalizer brands.
 
These decreases were partially offset by a 25% increase in Caleres’ owned e-commerce sales, which accounted for around 30% of the company’s total quarterly revenues. Overall, direct-to-consumer represented 75% of the group’s net sales for Q4.

“We continued to execute at a very high level at Famous Footwear, which rebounded quickly following the extended store closures and capped off 2020 with a modest decline in fourth quarter sales and a significant increase in year-over-year earnings,” commented Caleres chairman and CEO Diane Sullivan in a release.
 
“For the brand portfolio, we have identified areas of opportunity that are expected to position this segment for improved performance including actions to ensure the optimal alignment of our product assortment and omnichannel capabilities to more closely reflect rapidly evolving consumer behaviors, preferences and priorities,” added Sullivan.
 
For the full fiscal year 2020, Caleres reported consolidated sales of $2.1 billion, down 27.5% from $2.9 billion in 2019. Famous Footwear saw a decline of 20.4% in its annual sales, while the company’s brand portfolio experienced a decrease of 35.8%.
 
E-commerce revenues increased 40% to represent 30% of annual sales, with the group’s direct-to-consumer business representing 73% of this overall total.
 
Net loss for the year came to $439.1 million, or $11.80 per diluted share, compared to net income of $62.8 million, or $1.53 per diluted share, in 2019.
 
Looking forward, due to ongoing uncertainty concerning the Covdid-19 pandemic, Caleres has not provided financial guidance for fiscal 2021.