Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. Reports Results For Fiscal First Quarter

UNION, N.J., June 25, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. today reported net earnings of $.93 per diluted share ($187.1 million) in the fiscal first quarter ended May 31, 2014, compared with net earnings for the fiscal first quarter of 2013 of $.93 per diluted share ($202.5 million).  Net sales for the fiscal first quarter of 2014 were approximately $2.657 billion, an increase of approximately 1.7% from net sales of approximately $2.612 billion reported in the fiscal first quarter of 2013.  Comparable sales in the fiscal first quarter of 2014 increased by approximately 0.4%, compared with an increase of approximately 3.4% in last year's fiscal first quarter.

During the fiscal first quarter of 2014, the Company repurchased approximately $273 million of its common stock, representing approximately 4.2 million shares.  As of May 31, 2014, the remaining balance of the existing share repurchase program authorized in December 2012 was approximately $861 million. 

The Company is modeling net earnings per diluted share to be approximately $1.08 to $1.16 for the fiscal second quarter of 2014 and, consistent with the prior estimate, to increase by a mid-single digit percentage for all of fiscal 2014.  The modeling of net earnings per diluted share is based upon a number of assumptions which will be described in the Company's first quarter of fiscal 2014 conference call. Information regarding access to the call is available in the Investor Relations section of the Company's website, www.bedbathandbeyond.com.

Cost Plus World Market was excluded from the comparable sales calculations through the end of the fiscal first half of 2013 and is included beginning with the fiscal third quarter of 2013.  Linen Holdings is excluded from the comparable sales calculations and will continue to be excluded on an ongoing basis because it represents non-retail activity. 

As of May 31, 2014, the Company had a total of 1,500 stores, including 1,015 Bed Bath & Beyond stores in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and Canada, 266 stores under the names of World Market, Cost Plus World Market or Cost Plus, 91 buybuy BABY stores, 78 stores under the names of Christmas Tree Shops, Christmas Trees Shops andThat! or andThat!, and 50 stores under the names of Harmon or Harmon Face Values.  During the fiscal first quarter, the Company opened two Bed Bath & Beyond stores, one buybuy Baby store, one andThat! store and one Cost Plus World Market store, as well as closed one Bed Bath & Beyond store.  Consolidated store space, net of openings and closings for all our concepts, as of May 31, 2014 was approximately 42.7 million square feet. Since the beginning of the fiscal second quarter of 2014 on June 1, 2014, one Bed Bath & Beyond store, one buybuy Baby store and two Cost Plus World Market stores have been opened.  In addition, the Company is a partner in a joint venture which operates five stores in the Mexico City market under the name Bed Bath & Beyond.

Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. and subsidiaries (the "Company") is a retailer which operates under the names Bed Bath & Beyond, Christmas Tree Shops, Christmas Tree Shops andThat! or andThat!, Harmon or Harmon Face Values, buybuy BABY and World Market, Cost Plus World Market or Cost Plus. Customers can purchase products from the Company either in store, online or through a mobile device. The Company has the developing ability to have customer purchases picked up in store or shipped direct to the customer from the Company's distribution facilities, stores or vendors. 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, food service, healthcare and other industries.  The Company is also a partner in a joint venture which operates retail stores in Mexico under the name Bed Bath & Beyond.  The Company sells a wide assortment of domestics merchandise and home furnishings.  Domestics merchandise includes categories such as bed linens and related items, bath items and kitchen textiles.  Home furnishings include categories such as kitchen and tabletop items, fine tabletop, basic housewares, general home furnishings, consumables and certain juvenile products.  Shares of Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. are traded on NASDAQ under the symbol "BBBY" and are included in the Standard and Poor's 500 and Global 1200 Indices and the NASDAQ-100 Index.  The Company is counted among the Fortune 500 and the Forbes 2000.   

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 and spending habits; 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; the ability to attract and retain qualified employees in all areas of the organization; the cost of labor, merchandise and other costs and expenses; the ability to find suitable locations at acceptable occupancy costs and other terms to support the Company's expansion program; the ability to assess and implement technologies in support of the Company's development of its omnichannel capabilities; uncertainty in financial markets; 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; changes to statutory, regulatory and legal requirements; new, or developments in existing, litigation, claims or assessments; changes to, or new, tax laws or interpretation of existing tax laws; changes to, or new, accounting standards including, without limitation, changes to lease accounting standards; and the integration of acquired businesses.  The Company does not undertake any obligation to update its forward-looking statements. 

SOURCE Bed Bath & Beyond Inc.