FORT MYERS, Fla., Jan. 11, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Chico's FAS,
Inc. (NYSE: CHS) (the "Company" or "Chico's FAS") today reported
holiday sales and updated its outlook for fiscal 2021 fourth
quarter sales and earnings. Molly
Langenstein, Chico's FAS Chief Executive Officer and
President, and Patrick ("PJ") Guido, Chico's FAS Chief Financial
Officer, will discuss progress on the Company's strategic plan and
these results at the ICR Conference today at 3:30 PM ET. As previously announced, a live
webcast of the virtual presentation and associated materials may be
accessed in the Investors section of the Company's corporate
website, www.chicosfas.com.
For the nine-week holiday period ending January 1, 2022, total net sales grew
approximately 30% compared to the same period last year. Comparable
sales for the nine-week holiday period grew approximately 31.5%
over fiscal 2020. The Company has updated its fourth quarter
outlook and expects fourth quarter net sales at the low end of the
$495 million to $510 million range previously provided on
November 30, 2021 and expects diluted
earnings per share at the high end of the previously provided
$0.00 to $0.05 range.
Langenstein commented, "Our team continues to build on the
strong momentum in our turnaround strategy and successfully
navigate through the uncertain macro environment. We expect to
report our first profitable year since fiscal 2018 and the best
fourth quarter performance since fiscal 2017. The progress we are
making is a testament to our talented team and their solid
execution in our product merchandising, marketing and customer
engagement strategies. Our operating and cost discipline is
contributing to our financial strength, which we believe positions
us well to make investments that will support sustainable,
profitable growth and value creation."
ABOUT CHICO'S FAS, INC.
Chico's FAS is a Florida-based
fashion company founded in 1983 on Sanibel Island, Fla. The Company
reinvented the fashion retail experience by creating fashion
communities anchored by service, which put the customer at the
center of everything we do. As one of the leading fashion retailers
in North America, Chico's FAS is a
company of three unique brands - Chico's®, White House Black
Market® and Soma® - each thriving in their own white space, founded
by women, led by women, providing solutions that millions of women
say give them confidence and joy.
Our Company has a passion for fashion, and each day, we provide
clothing, shoes and accessories, intimate apparel and expert
styling in our brick-and-mortar boutiques, digital online boutiques
and through StyleConnect™, the Company's proprietary
digital styling tool that enables customers to conveniently shop
wherever, whenever and however they prefer.
As of October 30, 2021, the Company operated 1,279 stores
in the U.S. and sold merchandise through 59 international franchise
locations in Mexico and 2 domestic
franchise airport locations. The Company's merchandise is also
available at www.chicos.com,
www.chicosofftherack.com, www.whbm.com and www.soma.com as
well as through third-party channels.
To learn more about Chico's FAS, please visit our corporate
website at www.chicosfas.com. The information on our corporate
website is not, and shall not be deemed to be, a part of this press
release or incorporated into our federal securities law
filings.
SAFE HARBOR STATEMENT UNDER THE PRIVATE SECURITIES LITIGATION
REFORM ACT OF 1995
This press release contains statements
concerning our current expectations, assumptions, plans, estimates,
judgments and projections about our business and our industry and
other statements that are not historical facts. These statements,
including without limitation the quote from Ms. Langenstein, are
"forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. In most cases,
words or phrases such as "anticipates," "believes," "could,"
"estimates," "expects," "intends," "may," "will," "plans," "path,"
"outlook," "project," "should," "strategy," "potential,"
"confident" and similar expressions identify forward-looking
statements. These forward-looking statements are based largely on
information currently available to our management and are subject
to various risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results
to differ materially from historical results or those expressed or
implied by such forward-looking statements. Although we believe our
expectations are based on reasonable estimates and assumptions,
they are not guarantees of performance. There is no assurance that
our expectations will occur or that our estimates or assumptions
will be correct, and we caution investors and all others not to
place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements. Factors
that could cause actual results to differ include, but are not
limited to, those described in Item 1A, "Risk Factors" in our most
recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and, from time to time, in Item
1A, "Risk Factors" of our Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and the
following: The effects of the pandemic, including uncertainties
about its depth and duration, new variants of COVID-19 that have
emerged, the speed, efficacy and availability of vaccines and
treatments, its impact on general economic conditions, consumer
behavior and discretionary spending, the effectiveness of any
actions taken in response to the pandemic, and the impact of the
pandemic on our manufacturing operations; the extent, availability
and effectiveness of any pandemic stimulus packages or loan
programs, including the CARES Act; the ability of our suppliers,
logistics providers, vendors and landlords, to meet their
obligations to us in light of financial stress, staffing shortages,
liquidity challenges, bankruptcy filings by other industry
participants, and supply chain and other disruptions; increases in
unemployment rates and taxes; general economic conditions,
inflation, consumer confidence, consumer spending patterns and
market disruptions including pandemics or significant health
hazards, severe weather conditions, natural disasters, terrorist
activities, financial crises, political crises or other major
events, or the prospect of these events; shifts in consumer
behavior, and our ability to adapt, identify and respond to new and
changing fashion trends and customer preferences, and to coordinate
product development with buying and planning; changes in the
general or specialty retail or apparel industries, including market
demand and overall level of spending for women's private branded
clothing and related accessories; our ability to secure and
maintain customer acceptance of styles and in-store and online
concepts; competition in the markets in which we operate, including
our ability to remain competitive with customer shipping terms and
costs; customer traffic at our stores; fluctuations in foreign
currency exchange rates; significant changes in the costs of
manufacturing, raw materials, transportation, importing,
distribution, labor and advertising; the quality and timeliness of
merchandise received from suppliers; our ability to manage our
store fleet, including achieving the expected results of store
openings or store closures; our ability to appropriately manage our
inventory and allocation processes and leverage targeted
promotions; our ability to maintain our cost saving discipline; our
ability to operate our retail websites in a profitable manner; our
ability to successfully identify and implement additional sales and
distribution channels; our ability to successfully execute and
achieve the expected results of our business and brand strategies,
awareness, merchandising and marketing programs including, but not
limited to, the Company's turnaround strategy, retail fleet
optimization plan, sales initiatives and multi-channel strategies
and five operating priorities for fiscal 2021, which are: 1)
continuing our ongoing digital transformation; 2) further refining
product through fit, quality, fabric and innovation in each of our
brands; 3) driving increased customer engagement through marketing;
4) maintaining our operating and cost discipline; and 5) further
enhancing the productivity of our real estate portfolio; our
ability to utilize our distribution center and other support
facilities in an efficient and effective manner; our reliance on
sourcing from foreign suppliers, including significant economic
labor, political or other shifts (including the impact of changes
in tariffs, taxes or other import regulations, particularly with
respect to China, or legislation
prohibiting certain imports from China); U.S. and foreign governmental actions
and policies and changes thereto; the continuing performance,
implementation and integration of our management information
systems; the impact of any system failure, cyber security or other
data security breaches, including any security breaches resulting
in the theft, transfer, or unauthorized disclosure of customer,
employee, or company information; our ability to comply with any
domestic and foreign information security and privacy laws,
regulations and technology platform rules or other obligations
related to data privacy and security; the ability to attract, hire,
train, motivate and retain qualified employees in an inclusive
environment; the successful recruitment of leadership and
transition of members of our senior management team; uncertainties
regarding future unsolicited offers to buy the Company and actions
of activist shareholders and others and our ability to respond
effectively; our ability to secure and protect our intellectual
property rights and to protect our reputation and brand images;
unanticipated changes in legal, regulatory or tax laws; and our
ability to comply with the terms of our Credit Agreement, which
includes restrictive provisions limiting our flexibility in
operating our business and obtaining credit on reasonable terms.
These factors should be considered in evaluating forward-looking
statements contained herein. All forward-looking statements that
are made or attributable to us are expressly qualified in their
entirety by this cautionary notice. The forward-looking statements
included herein are only made as of the date of this press release.
We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any
forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information,
future events or otherwise.
Investor Relations Contact:
Tom Filandro
ICR, Inc.
(646) 277-1235
tom.filandro@icrinc.com
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SOURCE Chico's FAS, Inc.