Sears Hometown and Outlet 4Q results rise

HOFFMAN ESTATES — Sears Hometown and Outlet Stores Inc. said Tuesday that its fourth-quarter results climbed, helped by an extra week in the period compared with a year ago.

The company, which was spun off from Sears Holdings Corp., mostly sells home appliances, hardware, tools and lawn and garden equipment.

The company reported that its net income climbed 23 percent to $9.7 million, or 42 cents per share for the period ended Feb. 2. That compares with $7.9 million, or 34 cents per share, a year earlier.

Revenue rose about 7 percent to $631.2 million from $591 million a year ago. It credited the revenue increase mostly to sales captured during the extra week.

Revenue at stores open at least a year dipped 0.5 percent, with the Hometown and Hardware segment reporting a 0.8 percent rise and the Sears Outlet segment posting a 4.8 percent decline.

Taking out consumer electronics, revenue at stores open at least a year climbed 1.1 percent for the total company, led by appliances and mattresses. It rose 2.6 percent for the Hometown and Hardware unit.

Revenue at stores open at least a year is a key gauge of a retailer’s health because it excludes results from stores recently opened or closed.

For the fiscal year, the company’s net income more than doubled to $60.1 million, or $2.60 per share, from $33.1 million, or $1.43 per share, in the previous year.

Revenue rose approximately 5 percent to $2.5 billion. The company said the results benefited from the extra week, a 0.6 percent rise in revenue at stores open at least a year, new stores and an increase in delivery revenues.

At the Hometown and Hardware segment, revenue at stores open at least a year climbed 1 percent. The figure fell 0.8 percent for the Sears Outlet division.

Its shares finished at $43 on Monday. They have traded in a 52-week range of $28 to $46.50.