Party City has reported total net sales of $510.2 million for Q3 2021 – a comparable increase of 7.5% on 2020, and 14.2% vs Q3 2019.
The US retailer has attributed the growth in sales to strength in core categories. Brad Weston, coo of Party City, commented: “We are very pleased with our third quarter results that came in at the high end of our expectations. Our performance was again broad based as we continue to be celebration obsessed and take concrete steps to increase relevancy with our customers to ensure we are top of mind when it comes to anything celebratory.
“To that end, this strong performance continued into October fuelled by ongoing strength in our core categories. We are thrilled with our Halloween results driven by the team’s excellent execution of our improved Halloween go-to market strategy across all four channels of our business including Party City, Partycity.com, Halloween City and wholesale.”
Total retail sales increased 8.9% compared to the third quarter 2020, driven by a strong comparable sales increase in the core everyday categories. The number of corporate Party City stores was 754 on 30th September, compared to 739 in the prior year.
Total gross profit margin for Party City in Q3 increased 270 basis points to 36% of net sales. Operative expenses totalled $163.6 million, or $41.4 million lower than the third quarter of 2020, primarily due to impairment of assets recorded in Q3 2020. Adjusted net income was $2.9 million, or $0.10 per share.
For the five-week period of October (ending 6th November, 2021), Party City reported total revenue of $415.5 million, 13.9% above the same period last year. Total retail revenue increased approximately 19.8%. During the month, 90 temporary Halloween City stores were in operation.
For the fourth quarter the company expects total revenue of $685 to $700 million, and a GAAP net income of $39 to $47 million.
Brad continued: “As we look to the final quarter of the year, we feel good about our positioning for the holiday season. We will continue to update and improve our product assortments and inventory position, as we expand our relevancy and elevate our customer experience. Given the still dynamic operating environment, we will remain flexible and agile, with our learnings from this year giving us increased confidence in our inflation mitigation strategies and the trajectory of our business.”
