Birks says restructuring its business in the last year has helped it post a net income of $5.4 million U.S. in fiscal 2016, reversing 2015’s net loss of $8.6 million U.S.
“We are especially proud our comparable store sales increased by three per cent in a very challenging retail environment,” said Birks Group president and CEO Jean-Christophe Bédos.
“Following a year of restructuring our company’s operations, the main factors that contributed to our success in fiscal 2016 included our continued dedication to enhancing customer experiences via our new store designs, the successful launch of our new collections, and our creative marketing campaigns. We also strongly focused our efforts on strict cost controls and rigorous cash management, while investing in the implementation of a new enterprise resource planning (ERP) system that we believe will help the company offer better services with improved efficiency and productivity once it is completed”¦ We believe the company is positioning itself to meet a challenging retail environment and to continue to produce positive results in fiscal year 2017.”
Birks also announced:
- Comparable store sales (calculated on a constant exchange rate basis) increased by three per cent compared to the prior fiscal year ended March 28, 2015;
- Net sales were $4.4 million U.S. higher than last year on a constant currency basis after excluding $20.2 million U.S. of lower sales due to the translation of the company’s Canadian sales into U.S. dollars with a weaker Canadian dollar. Net sales were $285.8 million U.S. for fiscal 2016 compared to $301.6 million U.S. for fiscal 2015; and
- Gross profit was in line with last year on a constant currency basis after excluding the $8.3 million U.S. of lower gross profit due to the translation of the company’s Canadian gross profit into U.S. dollars with a weaker Canadian dollar.
