Ascena Retail Group, Inc. Reports Unaudited Consolidated Earnings Results for the Fourth Quarter and Full Year Ended July 29, 2017; Provides Earnings Guidance for the First Quarter and Fiscal Year 2018
For the year, the company reported net sales of $6,649.8 million against $6,995.4 million a year ago. Operating loss was $1,313.8 million against operating profit of $93.8 million a year ago. Loss before provision for income taxes was $1,414.2 million against $8.3 million a year ago. Net loss was $1,067.3 million against $11.9 million a year ago. Basic and diluted net loss per common share was $5.48 against $0.06 a year ago. Non-GAAP net sales were $6,652.5 million against $7,038.2 million a year ago. Non-GAAP net income was $175.8 million against $310.8 million a year ago. Non-GAAP net income was $42.2 million or $0.22 per diluted net income common share against $118.5 million or $0.60 per diluted net income common share a year ago. Adjusted EBITDA was $528.6 million against $644.6 million a year ago.
For the first quarter fiscal year 2018, the company expects non-GAAP earnings per share are estimated in the range of $0.08 to $0.13. Net sales in the range of $1.58 billion to $1.62 billion; Comparable sales in the range of down 4% to down 5%; Gross margin rate in the range of 60.8% to 61.3%; Depreciation and amortization expense of approximately $90 million; Operating income in the range of $55 million to $70 million; Interest expense of approximately $24 million; Effective tax rate of approximately 50%.
For the fiscal year 2018, gross margin rate in the range of 58.1% to 58.6%, including approximately $30 million of gross margin dollar improvement related to ANN deal synergies and cost savings; Depreciation and amortization in the range of $358 million to $363 million; Interest expense in the range of $100 million to $105 million; Capital expenditures in the range of $190 million to $220 million, with roughly two-thirds of planned spending on technology investments. Effective tax rate of approximately 50%.