BJ’s Wholesale Reports 15.9 Pct Rise In Comparable Club Sales

BJ’s Wholesale Reports 15.9 Pct Rise In Comparable Club Sales  

Warehouse club operator BJ’s Wholesale Club Holdings, Inc. reported that comparable club sales outside of fuel sales climbed 15.9 percent, with the inclusion of digitally enabled sales growth of 168 percent, for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2020, according to a Thursday (March 4) press release.

“While the unique circumstances brought on by the pandemic provided tailwinds, our industry-leading results and significant market share gains demonstrate the strength of our execution in these challenging times,” President and CEO Lee Delaney said in the release.

BJ’s Wholesale, which runs 221 clubs and 151 BJ’s Gas® locations in 17 states, reported $593.3 million in selling, general and administrative expenses (SG&A) for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2020 in contrast to $536 million for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2019. The rise in SG&A expenses was mainly fueled by costs connected with the pandemic, such as wage increases, safety and protective supplies, bonuses and other operational expenses like security.

BJ’s Wholesale also reported $15.9 million in net interest expense for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2020, while it reported $32.9 million in income tax expense for that same quarter. As for its overall results, BJ’s reported 70 cents in adjusted earnings per share (EPS) on $3.9 billion in net sales.

Chief Administrative and Financial Officer Robert W. Eddy said that fiscal 2020 is still challenging to predict, provided the “level of uncertainty associated with the evolution of the pandemic, member behavior and government stimulus.” For that reason, Eddy indicated that the company will continue to not provide formal in-depth guidance.

The news comes as Handy, the on-demand home services company, announced that it was collaborating with BJ’s Wholesale to provide professional television mounting and installation services. “With more retail shopping happening online than ever before, we’re excited to provide Handy-powered TV mounting installation services to BJ’s members shopping on BJ’s.com,” Handy CEO and Co-founder Oisin Hanrahan said in a previous announcement.