Kohl’s Earnings Down In Q4, But Above Expectations

National department store chain Kohl’s recently released its fourth-quarter financial earnings for 2016. While online order volumes were strong in Q4, slowing traffic to physical stores led to overall weak sales results for the end of 2016 to January 28, 2017.

Kohl’s overall profits came in at $252 million in Q4, or $1.44 per share, down 15 percent from profits of $296 million in the same period last year. Revenue was also down for the quarter, falling 2.8 percent to $6.21 billion compared to $6.39 billion in 2015.

Despite the slump, Kohl’s still managed to outperform analysts’ revenue expectations for the quarter — some $6.2 billion, or $1.32 per share.

Kohl’s same-store sales also dropped in Q4, falling 2.2 percent in the quarter as more shoppers chose online channels for the ease of online shopping.

“Sales results were weak for the quarter in total, driven by declines in brick-and-mortar traffic and offset somewhat by strength in online demand,” said Kevin Mansell, Kohl’s chairman, chief executive officer and president. “We saw improvement in merchandise margin, and our team continued to manage inventory and expenses extremely well.”

Mansell added, “In 2017, we will accelerate our focus on becoming the destination for active and wellness with the launch of Under Armour in early March. We will also extend our efforts on improving our speed to market across all of our proprietary brands into all apparel areas and home.”

For the full year, Kohl’s brought in $18.69 billion in revenue, down from $19.20 billion in 2015. Likewise, net income for the year slid to $556 million down from $673 million last year. At the end of the year, Kohl’s operated 1,154 stores in 49 U.S. states along with its eCommerce website.

The company reported opening nine small-format store locations in 2016 while closing 19 other Kohl’s brick-and-mortar shops. Additionally, Kohl’s reported opening two off/aisle locations and 12 FILA outlets in 2016.