Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. Reports Results for Fiscal 2017 Second Quarter

UNION, N.J., Sept. 19, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. (NASDAQ:BBBY) today reported financial results for the second quarter of fiscal 2017 ended August 26, 2017.

Second Quarter Results

For the fiscal 2017 second quarter, the Company reported net earnings of $.67 per diluted share ($94.2 million), including the unfavorable impacts of approximately $.08 per diluted share of cash restructuring charges associated with the acceleration of the realignment of our store management structure announced on August 3, 2017; the estimated costs associated with the impact of Hurricane Harvey of approximately $.02 per diluted share; and the impact of the new share-based payment accounting standard of approximately $.01 per diluted share, compared with $1.11 per diluted share ($167.3 million) for the fiscal 2016 second quarter. Net sales for the fiscal 2017 second quarter were approximately $2.9 billion, a decrease of approximately 1.7% from the prior year quarter. Comparable sales in the fiscal 2017 second quarter decreased by approximately 2.6%. Comparable sales from customer-facing digital channels continued to have strong growth in excess of 20% for the 13^th consecutive quarter, while comparable sales from stores declined in the mid-single-digit percentage range during the fiscal 2017 second quarter.

Transformational Initiatives

The Company is undertaking a number of transformational initiatives to drive operational excellence and further its mission to be its customer's first choice for the home and heart-felt life events. These initiatives will be discussed in further detail on the Company's conference call with analysts and investors to be held today at 5:00 pm (ET).

The Company believes the initiatives to drive operational excellence, as well as opportunities for added efficiencies, should produce savings in excess of $150 million over the next few years, a portion of which may be strategically reinvested toward future growth.

Capital Allocation

The Company's Board of Directors has declared a quarterly dividend of $.15 per share, to be paid on January 16, 2018 to shareholders of record at the close of business on December 15, 2017.

During the fiscal 2017 second quarter, the Company repurchased approximately $56 million of its common stock, representing approximately 1.8 million shares, under its existing $2.5 billion share repurchase program. As of August 26, 2017, the program had a remaining balance of approximately $1.6 billion.

Fiscal 2017

During the call, the Company plans to review its financial planning assumptions for fiscal 2017, which is a 53-week year.

The Company's planning assumptions reflect actual results through the fiscal second quarter and the continuation of the trends the Company has been experiencing, and the unfavorable impacts of: the cash restructuring charges associated with the acceleration of the realignment of our store management structure; Hurricanes Harvey and Irma; the adoption of the new shared based payment accounting standard; and further increases in its overall expense structure to reflect some of the accelerated spending associated with the Company's organizational changes and transformational initiatives. Based upon these planning assumptions, the Company is now modeling net earnings per diluted share for the full year to be about $3.00, with the balance of the net earnings per diluted share to be split approximately 20% in the fiscal third quarter and approximately 80% in the fiscal fourth quarter.

Fiscal 2017 Second Quarter Conference Call

The Company's fiscal 2017 second quarter conference call may be accessed by dialing 1-800-446-1671, or if international, 1-847-413-3362, using conference ID number 45587344. The replay of the call can be accessed by dialing 1-888-843-7419, using conference ID number 45587344. The call and replay can also be accessed via audio webcast on the investor relations section of our website at www.bedbathandbeyond.com.

About the Company

Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. and subsidiaries (the "Company") is an omnichannel retailer selling a wide assortment of domestics merchandise and home furnishings which operates under the names Bed Bath & Beyond, Christmas Tree Shops, Christmas Tree Shops andThat! or andThat!, Harmon, Harmon Face Values or Face Values, buybuy BABY and World Market, Cost Plus World Market or Cost Plus. Customers can purchase products either in-store, online, with a mobile device or through a customer contact center. The Company generally has the ability to have customer purchases picked up in-store or shipped direct to the customer from the Company's distribution facilities, stores or vendors. In addition, the Company operates Of a Kind, an e-commerce website that features specially commissioned, limited edition items from emerging fashion and home designers; One Kings Lane, an authority in home décor and design, offering a unique collection of select home goods, designer and vintage items; PersonalizationMall.com, an industry-leading online retailer of personalized products; Chef Central, an online retailer of kitchenware, cookware and homeware items catering to cooking and baking enthusiasts; and Decorist, an online interior design platform that provides personalized home design services. The Company also operates Linen Holdings, a provider of a variety of textile products, amenities and other goods to institutional customers in the hospitality, cruise line, healthcare and other industries. Additionally, the Company is a partner in a joint venture which operates retail stores in Mexico under the name Bed Bath & Beyond.

The Company operates websites at bedbathandbeyond.com, bedbathandbeyond.ca, worldmarket.com, buybuybaby.com, buybuybaby.ca, christmastreeshops.com, andthat.com, harmondiscount.com, facevalues.com, ofakind.com, onekingslane.com, personalizationmall.com, chefcentral.com, decorist.com, harborlinen.com, and t-ygroup.com. As of August 26, 2017, the Company had a total of 1,550 stores, including 1,023 Bed Bath & Beyond stores in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and Canada, 277 stores under the names of World Market, Cost Plus World Market or Cost Plus, 114 buybuy BABY stores, 81 stores under the names Christmas Tree Shops, Christmas Tree Shops andThat! or andThat!, and 55 stores under the names Harmon, Harmon Face Values or Face Values. During the fiscal second quarter, the Company opened one Bed Bath & Beyond store, two World Market stores, one buybuy BABY store, and one andThat! store, and closed one World Market store. In addition, the Company is a partner in a joint venture which operates eight stores in Mexico under the name Bed Bath & Beyond.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release may contain forward-looking statements. Many of these forward-looking statements can be identified by use of words such as may, will, expect, anticipate, approximate, estimate, assume, continue, model, project, plan, and similar words and phrases. The Company's actual results and future financial condition may differ materially from those expressed in any such forward-looking statements as a result of many factors. Such factors include, without limitation: general economic conditions including the housing market, a challenging overall macroeconomic environment and related changes in the retailing environment; consumer preferences, spending habits and adoption of new technologies; demographics and other macroeconomic factors that may impact the level of spending for the types of merchandise sold by the Company; civil disturbances and terrorist acts; unusual weather patterns and natural disasters; competition from existing and potential competitors; competition from other channels of distribution; pricing pressures; liquidity; the ability to achieve anticipated cost savings, and to not exceed anticipated costs, associated with organizational changes; the ability to attract and retain qualified employees in all areas of the organization; the cost of labor, merchandise and other costs and expenses; potential supply chain disruption due to trade restrictions, political instability, labor disturbances, product recalls, financial or operational instability of suppliers or carriers, and other items; the ability to find suitable locations at acceptable occupancy costs and other terms to support the Company's plans for new stores; the ability to assess and implement technologies in support of the Company's development of its omnichannel capabilities; the ability to establish and profitably maintain the appropriate mix of digital and physical presence in the markets it serves; uncertainty in financial markets; volatility in the price of the Company's common stock and its effect, and the effect of other factors, on the Company's capital allocation strategy; disruptions to the Company's information technology systems including but not limited to security breaches of systems protecting consumer and employee information; reputational risk arising from challenges to the Company's or a third party supplier's compliance with various laws, regulations or standards, including those related to labor, health, safety, privacy or the environment; reputational risk arising from third-party merchandise or service vendor performance in direct home delivery or assembly of product for customers; changes to statutory, regulatory and legal requirements, including without limitation proposed changes affecting international trade; changes to, or new, tax laws or interpretation of existing tax laws; new, or developments in existing, litigation, claims or assessments; changes to, or new, accounting standards; foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations; and the integration of acquired businesses. The Company does not undertake any obligation to update its forward-looking statements.

BED BATH & BEYOND INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
*Consolidated Statements of Earnings*
*(in thousands, except per share data)*
*(unaudited)*

			Three Months Ended				Six Months Ended

			August 26,		August 27,		August 26,		August 27,
			2017		2016		2017		2016


	Net sales		$	2,936,357	$	2,988,235	$	5,678,498	$	5,726,319

	Cost of sales			1,867,798		1,871,342		3,609,824		3,585,834

		Gross profit		1,068,559		1,116,893		2,068,674		2,140,485

	Selling, general and administrative expenses			899,712		835,920		1,752,816		1,646,486

		Operating profit		168,847		280,973		315,858		493,999

	Interest expense, net			19,166		18,199		35,746		34,514

		Earnings before provision for income taxes		149,681		262,774		280,112		459,485

	Provision for income taxes			55,451		95,439		110,599		169,531

		Net earnings	$	94,230	$	167,335	$	169,513	$	289,954

	Net earnings per share - Basic		$	0.67	$	1.12	$	1.21	$	1.92
	Net earnings per share - Diluted		$	0.67	$	1.11	$	1.20	$	1.91

	Weighted average shares outstanding - Basic			139,868		149,725		140,599		150,941
	Weighted average shares outstanding - Diluted			140,211		150,515		141,176		152,133

	Dividends declared per share		$	0.150	$	0.125	$	0.300	$	0.250

BED BATH & BEYOND INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES Consolidated Balance Sheets (in thousands, except per share data) (unaudited)

		August 26,		August 27,
		2017		2016

Assets

Current assets:
	Cash and cash equivalents	$	464,062	$	577,844
	Merchandise inventories		2,878,638		2,903,647
	Other current assets		187,664		229,560

	Total current assets		3,530,364		3,711,051

Long term investment securities			99,157		82,740
Property and equipment, net			1,834,470		1,739,952
Goodwill			707,127		520,226
Other assets			611,541		599,785

		$	6,782,659	$	6,653,754

Liabilities and Shareholders' Equity

Current liabilities:
	Accounts payable	$	1,168,092	$	1,192,574
	Accrued expenses and other current liabilities		486,719		473,595
	Merchandise credit and gift card liabilities		318,407		307,969
	Current income taxes payable		15,802		23,539

	Total current liabilities		1,989,020		1,997,677

Deferred rent and other liabilities			514,902		513,968
Income taxes payable			65,203		76,744
Long term debt			1,491,836		1,491,370

	Total liabilities		4,060,961		4,079,759

Shareholders' equity:
	Preferred stock - $0.01 par value; authorized - 1,000
	shares; no shares issued or outstanding		-		-

	Common stock - $0.01 par value; authorized - 900,000 shares;
	issued 341,582 and 339,520, respectively;
	outstanding 143,242 and 152,084 shares, respectively		3,416		3,395
	Additional paid-in capital		2,022,826		1,939,470
	Retained earnings		11,130,348		10,646,033
	Treasury stock, at cost; 198,340 and 187,436 shares, respectively		(10,399,254)		(9,968,003)
	Accumulated other comprehensive loss		(35,638)		(46,900)

Total shareholders' equity			2,721,698		2,573,995

		$	6,782,659	$	6,653,754


	Certain reclassifications have been made to the Fiscal Year 2016 consolidated balance sheet to conform to the Fiscal Year 2017 consolidated balance sheet presentation.



BED BATH & BEYOND INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows *(in thousands, unaudited)*

			Six Months Ended

			August 26,		August 27,
			2017		2016


Cash Flows from Operating Activities:

	Net earnings		$	169,513	$	289,954
	Adjustments to reconcile net earnings to net cash
		provided by operating activities:
		Depreciation and amortization		148,497		141,293
		Stock-based compensation		36,904		37,563
		Deferred income taxes		(10,707)		11,842
		Other		182		(809)
		Decrease (increase) in assets, net of effect of acquisitions:
		Merchandise inventories		31,852		(48,849)
		Trading investment securities		(9,221)		(11,657)
		Other current assets		10,590		(51,624)
		Other assets		(4,052)		(11,611)
		Increase (decrease) in liabilities, net of effect of acquisitions:
		Accounts payable		22,004		121,431
		Accrued expenses and other current liabilities		2,723		(225)
		Merchandise credit and gift card liabilities		8,604		9,850
		Income taxes payable		(46,766)		(35,438)
		Deferred rent and other liabilities		4,578		17,977

	Net cash provided by operating activities			364,701		469,697

Cash Flows from Investing Activities:

	Redemption of held-to-maturity investment securities			-		86,240
	Capital expenditures			(176,955)		(184,789)
	Investment in unconsolidated joint venture			-		(3,318)
	Payment for acquisition, net of cash acquired			(5,207)		(11,777)

	Net cash used in investing activities			(182,162)		(113,644)

Cash Flows from Financing Activities:

	Proceeds from exercise of stock options			10,161		20,258
	Payment of dividends			(39,241)		(18,827)
	Repurchase of common stock, including fees			(183,715)		(299,486)

	Net cash used in financing activities			(212,795)		(298,055)

	Effect of exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents			5,989		4,273

	Net (decrease) increase in cash and cash equivalents			(24,267)		62,271

Cash and cash equivalents:
	Beginning of period			488,329		515,573
	End of period		$	464,062	$	577,844



		Certain reclassifications have been made to the Fiscal Year 2016 consolidated statement of cash flows to conform to the Fiscal Year 2017 consolidated cash flows presentation.