DILLARD'S INC.DILLARD'S INC inc - /ink/ increment, i.e. increase by one. Especially used by assembly programmers, as many assembly languages have an "inc" mnemonic. Antonym: dec. .'S fourth quarter brought more mediocre stock performance and low earnings, prompting the retailer to take evasive action Noun 1. evasive action - an action aimed at evading an opponent maneuver, manoeuvre evasion - the act of physically escaping from something (an opponent or a pursuer or an unpleasant situation) by some adroit maneuver . Despite the difficulties arising from its ambitious purchase of Mercantile Stores Mercantile Stores Company Inc. was a traditional department store retailer, founded in 1914, that operated 102 fashion apparel stores and 16 home fashion stores in 17 states. Inc., the company saw revenues and net income rise. The increases came as store sales rose and gross margins improved. Dillard's reported net sales Net Sales The amount a seller receives from the buyer after costs associated with the sale are deducted. Notes: This amount is calculated by subtracting the following items from gross sales: merchandise returned for credit, allowances for damaged or missing goods, freight of $8.68 billion for the fiscal year ending Jan. 29, up from $7.77 billion the previous year. Net income jumped, too, to $163.7 million ending, Jan. 29 from $135.3 million the year before. Revenues also rose 12 percent to $8.92 billion. Dillard's also announced this year it would close eight under-performing stores, a move designed to help remedy some of its Mercantile woes. The company said closing the stores (four of which were Mercantile properties) would save about $7 million in annual pretax charges. In another move to ease the strain, Dillard's repurchased $119 million of its stock in the fourth quarter as part of a $250 million repurchase program. The company again reported disappointing earnings for the fourth quarter. The poor earnings bucked optimistic Wall Street predictions. Net income for the fourth quarter was $25.8 million -- 26 cents per share Cents per share The amount of a mutual fund's dividend or capital gains distributions that a shareholder will receive for each share owned. -- compared to $74.4 million -- 70 cents per share -- a year before. Some analysts had predicted earnings of a little more than a dollar per share. Dillard's stock has hovered between about $22 to $14 per share since November, even after a relatively strong summer when it traded as high as $37 dollars per share. Bank of America
Bank of America (NYSE: BAC TYO: 8648 ) is the largest commercial bank in the United States in terms of deposits, and the largest company of its kind in the world. , in its March retail securities report, predicted the stock will underperform, calling its fourth-quarter results "highly disappointing." It predicted Dillard's would continue its stock repurchase Stock repurchase A firm's repurchase of outstanding shares of its common stock. and lessen capital expenditures by 40-50 percent. The Little Rock-based department store touts 342 stores and seven clearance centers in 29 states as of December 1999. |
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