Fashion Apparel Retailer Express' Q4 Highlights: Revenue Miss, Margin Pressure, Expense Savings Efforts & More

Fashion apparel retailer Express, Inc. EXPR reported a fourth-quarter FY22 sales decline of 14% year-on-year to $514.33 million, missing the consensus of $536.68 million.
Comparable retail sales, including Express stores and eCommerce, declined 15%, and comparable outlet store sales fell 7%.
Gross margin contracted by 530 basis points Y/Y to 23.9%.
Operating expenses fell 0.7% Y/Y to $162.1 million. Operating loss for the quarter was $(39.3) million compared to a profit of $10.3 million last year.
EBITDA was $385.8 million, including the $409.5 million gain on the transaction with WHP Global, versus $25.8 million last year.
Adjusted EPS loss of $(0.63) beat the analyst consensus loss of $(0.72).
Inventory at the end of 2022 climbed 2% Y/Y to $365.6 million.
The company held $65.6 million in cash and equivalents as of Jan. 28, 2023. Cash provided by operating activities for the twelve months totaled $(157.1) million.
"While we expect the margin pressure and recessionary environment we experienced in the back half of the year to continue, we have identified and begun to realize $40 million in annualized expense savings in early 2023 and are working to identify additional expense savings opportunities in 2023 and beyond," said CEO Tim Baxter.
Outlook: Express sees FY23 comparable sales of positive low-single digits, with EPS loss of $(0.85) - $(1.05) against the Street view of $(0.67).
The company expects Q1 comparable sales of negative low-double digits; EPS loss of $(0.70) - $(0.80) against the consensus of $(0.47).
Price Action: EXPR shares are trading lower by 12.24% at $0.7459 on the last check Friday.

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