The management team at Party City are remaining positive despite reporting weak Q4 results, with same store sales down by 1.4% in the last quarter of 2017.
The party supplies retailer reported fiscal Q4 and full-year 2017 earnings that beat analyst estimates, resulting in a 15% rise in share prices towards the end of last week (Friday 9 March). Sales also outperformed analysts’ estimates.
Chief executive officer James Harrison stated that the Q4 results were ‘in line with our expectations’ and that the company was ‘making strong progress on key strategic priorities’. Adjusted net income for the quarter increased by 3.2% to $94.1 million, compared to $91.2 million for 2016.
“With fourth quarter results that were in line with our expectations, we achieved 4% topline growth and 8% Adjusted EPS growth in 2017,” said James.
“We are well-positioned to build on this progress in 2018 as we continue to grow our consumer products businesses, focus on our retail initiatives and enhance our digital assets and omni-channel platform,” he added.
For 2018, the company expects to post a total revenue of between $2.44 and $2.49 billion, with a brand comparable sales growth of approximately 1%.