Topic: How To Invest

Stock Pickers Digest Hotline – Friday, March 31, 2017

Article Excerpt

REITMANS (CANADA) LTD., $5.43, symbol RET.A on Toronto, owns 694 women’s clothing stores across Canada. Those outlets are divided among several brands: Reitmans (302 stores), Penningtons (127), Addition Elle (98), RW & Co. (84), Thyme Maternity (64) and Hyba (19). The company has now closed all of its Smart Set stores and its 18 Thyme Maternity boutiques (located in Babies “R” Us stores) across Canada. In the three months ended January 28, 2017, sales rose 2.6%, to $248.5 million from $242.2 million a year earlier. Revenue increased despite the closure of 90 stores over the last year. Same-store sales gained 7.9%. Overall, sales through physical locations rose 3.5%, while e-commerce sales jumped 55.1%. In the quarter, the retailer earned $328,000, or nil per share, compared to its loss of $16.5 million a year earlier. However, both periods included one-time items. That makes year-over-year cash flow comparisons more useful. In the latest quarter, cash flow was $10.8 million, or $0.17 a share, up 58.7% from…