Neiman Marcus Group Inc. swung to a fiscal second-quarter profit after steep write-downs weighed on year-ago results. For the quarter ended Jan. 30, Neiman Marcus posted a profit of $4
million, compared with a year-earlier loss of $509.3 million. The
year-earlier period included $560.1 million in tradename, goodwill and
other asset write-downs.
Revenue rose 2.1% to $1.1 billion, from $1.08 billion a year ago,
while sales at stores open at least a year, a key meausre of retail
health, rose just 0.6%.
Gross margin jumped to 30.9% from 23.9% as the company – owned by
private-equity investors TPG Capital and Warburg Pincus LLC – controlled
expenses. the company said its cash and equivalents more than doubled
to $530 million as of Feb. 27, up from $230 million a year ago.
Sales in the company’s specialty retail segment, including Neiman
Marcus and Bergdorf Goodman, climbed 1.2%, and the segment swung to an
operating profit. The direct-marketing segment, which includes Web and
catalog business, posted a 5.9% sales increase and profit more than
doubled.
Earlier this month, it said sales at stores open at least a year, a
key measure of retail health, rose 6.2% for the four-week period ended
February 27, signaling a strong start to its fiscal third quarter.
