Citi Trends Inc 10-Q

Item 2. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations. Forward-Looking Statements Except for specific historical information, many of the matters discussed in this Form 10-Q may express or imply projections of revenues or expenditures, statements of plans and objectives for future operations, growth or initiatives, statements of future economic performance, capital allocation expectations or statements regarding the outcome or impact of pending or threatened litigation. These, and similar statements, are forward-looking statements concerning matters that involve risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual performance of the Company to differ materially from those expressed or implied by these statements. All forward-looking information should be evaluated in the context of these risks, uncertainties and other factors. The words “believe,” “anticipate,” “project,” “plan,” “expect,” “estimate,” “objective,” “forecast,” “goal,” “intend,” “could,” “will likely result,” or “will continue” and similar words and expressions generally identify forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain such language. The Company believes the assumptions underlying these forward-looking statements are reasonable; however, any of the assumptions could be inaccurate, and therefore, actual results may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. The factors that may result in actual results differing from such forward-looking information include, but are not limited to: uncertainties relating to general economic conditions, including inflation, energy and fuel costs, unemployment levels, and any deterioration whether caused by acts of war, terrorism, political or social unrest (including any resulting store closures, damage or loss of inventory) or other factors; changes in market interest rates and market levels of wages; natural disasters such as hurricanes; public health emergencies such as the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and associated containment and remediation efforts; the potential negative impacts of COVID-19 on the global economy and foreign sourcing; the impacts of COVID-19 on the Company’s financial condition, business operation and liquidity, including the re-closure of any or all of the Company’s retail stores and distribution centers; transportation and distribution delays or interruptions; changes in freight rates; the Company’s ability to attract and retain workers; the Company’s ability to negotiate effectively the cost and purchase of merchandise; inventory risks due to shifts in market demand; the Company’s ability to gauge fashion trends and changing consumer preferences; consumer confidence and changes in consumer spending patterns; competition within the industry; competition in our markets; the duration and extent of any economic stimulus programs; changes in product mix; interruptions in suppliers’ businesses; temporary changes in demand due to weather patterns; seasonality of the Company’s business; delays associated with building, opening, remodeling and operating new stores; the results of pending or threatened litigation; delays associated with building, opening or expanding new or existing distribution centers; and other factors described in the section titled “Item 1A. Risk Factors” and elsewhere in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended January 29, 2022, and in Part II, “Item 1A. Risk Factors” and elsewhere in the Company’s Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and any amendments thereto and in the other documents the Company files with the SEC, including reports on Form 8-K. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this Form 10-Q. Except as may be required by law, the Company undertakes no obligation to update or revise publicly any forward-looking statements contained herein to reflect events or circumstances occurring after the date of this Form 10-Q or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events. Readers are advised, however, to read any further disclosures the Company may make on related subjects in its public disclosures or documents filed with the SEC, including reports on Form 8-K. Executive Overview We are a growing specialty value retailer of apparel, accessories and home trends for way less spend primarily for African American and Latinx families. Our high-quality and trend-right merchandise offerings at everyday low prices are designed to appeal to the fashion and trend preferences of value-conscious multicultural customers. As of July 30, 2022, we operated 617 stores in urban, suburban and rural markets in 33 states. Uncertainties and Challenges COVID-19 There is still significant uncertainty regarding the lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on our business, financial condition, results of operations, cash flows and liquidity. We cannot reasonably predict the extent to which our future business will be impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. 11 Table of Contents Inflation Our operations have been impacted by the recent surge in prices for food, fuel, housing and energy due to inflationary pressures, which are particularly impactful to the communities we serve. We expect inflationary pressures will persist in the near term. In addition, we are closely monitoring the impacts of higher unemployment, wage inflation and costs to source our merchandise. Supply Chain Disruptions We have encountered increasing supply chain disruptions that began in the second half of fiscal 2021 and have continued through the date of this Report. In particular, our vendors have faced production delays, and we have been impacted by industry-wide U.S. port and ground transportation delays. In response, we have taken various actions, including ordering merchandise earlier, leveraging our packaway merchandise stock and expanding the direct shipping program from our vendors to our stores that we initiated in fiscal 2020. These supply chain disruptions have resulted in increased costs, and we expect supply chain pressures will persist in the near term. Seasonality and Weather Patterns The nature of our business is seasonal. Historically, sales in the first and fourth quarters have been higher than sales achieved in the second and third quarters of the fiscal year. In addition, sales of clothing are directly impacted by the timing of the seasons to which the clothing relates. While we have greatly expanded our product offerings to become a one-stop-shop, traffic to our stores is still influenced by weather patterns to some extent. Basis of Presentation Net sales consist of store sales and layaway fees, net of returns by customers. Cost of sales consists of the cost of products we sell and associated freight costs. Depreciation is not considered a component of Cost of sales and is included as a separate line item in the consolidated statements of operations. Selling, general and administrative expenses are comprised of store costs, including payroll and occupancy costs, corporate and distribution center costs and advertising costs. The following discussion contains references to fiscal years 2022 and 2021, which represent fiscal years ending or ended on January 28, 2023 and January 29, 2022, respectively. Fiscal 2022 and fiscal 2021 both have 52-week accounting periods. This discussion and analysis should be read with the unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements and the notes thereto contained in Part 1, Item 1 of this Report. Results of Operations The following discussion of the Company’s financial performance is based on the unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements set forth herein. Expenses and, to a greater extent, operating income, vary by quarter. Results of a period shorter than a full year may not be indicative of results expected for the entire year as a result of the seasonality of the business, the current economic uncertainty and the extent to which future business will be impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Key Operating Statistics We measure performance using key operating statistics. One of the main performance measures we use is comparable store sales growth. We define a comparable store as a store that has been opened for an entire fiscal year. Therefore, a store will not be considered a comparable store until its 13th month of operation at the earliest or until its 24th month at the latest. As an example, stores opened in fiscal 2021 and fiscal 2022 are not considered comparable stores in fiscal 2022. Relocated and expanded stores are included in the comparable store sales results. Stores that are closed permanently or for an extended period are excluded from the comparable store sales results. We also use other operating statistics, most notably average sales per store, to measure our performance. As we typically occupy existing space in established shopping centers rather than sites built specifically for our stores, store square footage (and therefore sales per square foot) varies by store. We focus on overall store sales volume as the critical driver of profitability. In addition to sales, we measure cost of sales as a percentage of sales and store operating expenses, with a particular focus on labor, as a percentage of sales. These results translate into store level contribution, which we use to evaluate overall performance of each individual store. Finally, we monitor corporate expenses against budgeted amounts. 12 Table of Contents Thirteen Weeks Ended July 30, 2022 and July 31, 2021 Net Sales. Net sales decreased $52.3 million, or 22.0%, to $185.0 million in the second quarter of 2022 from $237.3 million in the second quarter of 2021. The decrease in sales was due to a 24.9% decrease in comparable store sales, partially offset by a $6.5 million increase from net store opening and closing activity. The decrease in comparable store sales was due to outsized sales in the first quarter of last year driven by government stimulus payments, combined with inflationary pressures in the first quarter of this year that are particularly impactful to our core customers. Cost of Sales (exclusive of depreciation). Cost of sales (exclusive of depreciation) decreased $25.9 million, or 18.5%, to $114.6 million in the second quarter of 2022 from $140.5 million in the second quarter of 2021. Cost of sales as a percentage of sales increased to 61.9% from 59.2%. The change of 270 basis points was due to a decrease of 190 basis points in the core merchandise margin (initial mark-up, net of markdowns) due to unusually low markdowns in the second quarter of last year during outsized stimulus-driven demand, along with an increase of 60 basis points in shrinkage and 20 basis points in freight costs in the current quarter. Selling, General and Administrative Expenses. Selling, general and administrative expenses decreased $6.9 million, or 9.2%, to $68.5 million in the second quarter of 2022 from $75.4 million in the second quarter of 2021. The decrease was driven by a $5.4 million decrease in incentive-based compensation as a result of unfavorable operating results in relation to budget this year (compared to overperformance in the second quarter of last year) as well as an adjustment to compensation costs for certain performance-based awards that are no longer probable to vest. Also contributing to the lower expense were other one-time items totaling $2.4 million consisting of an insurance gain, an adjustment to accrued vacation expense and the capitalization of payroll related to a technology upgrade, along with a decrease in credit card processing fees, a decrease in professional fees related to discontinuing a third-party warehouse provider and savings from headcount reductions. These decreases were partially offset by a $1.1 million increase in rent related to the sale-leaseback of our Darlington distribution center and the general impact on expenses of opening and operating more stores. As a percentage of sales, Selling, general and administrative expenses increased to 37.0% in the second quarter of 2022 from 31.8% in the second quarter of 2021, primarily due to the deleveraging effect of lower sales. Depreciation. Depreciation expense increased $0.3 million, or 5.6%, to $5.3 million in the second quarter of 2022 from $5.0 million in the second quarter of 2021. Income Tax Benefit/ Expense. Income tax benefit was $0.9 million in the second quarter of 2022 compared to expense of $3.8 million in the second quarter of 2021 due to the pretax loss in the second quarter this year versus pretax income in the second quarter of last year. Net Loss/Income. Net loss was $2.5 million in the second quarter of 2022 compared to net income of $12.5 million in the second quarter of 2021 due to the factors discussed above. Twenty-Six Weeks Ended July 30, 2022 and July 31, 2021 Net Sales. Net sales decreased $129.5 million, or 24.8%, to $393.2 million in the first half of 2022 from $522.7 million in the same period of 2021. The decrease in sales was due to a 27.2% decrease in comparable store sales, partially offset by a $13.4 million increase from net store opening and closing activity. The decrease in comparable store sales was due to outsized sales in the first half of last year driven by government stimulus payments, combined with inflationary pressures in the first half of this year that are particularly impactful to our core customers. Cost of Sales (exclusive of depreciation). Cost of sales (exclusive of depreciation) decreased $62.7 million, or 20.6%, to $241.6 million in the first half of 2022 from $304.3 million in the same period of 2021. Cost of sales as a percentage of sales increased to 61.4% in the first half of 2022 from 58.2% in the same period of 2021. The change of 320 basis points was due to a decrease of 235 basis points in the core merchandise margin (initial mark-up, net of markdowns) due to unusually low markdowns in the first half of last year during outsized stimulus-driven demand, along with an increase of 45 basis points in shrinkage and 40 basis points in freight costs in the current period. Selling, General and Administrative Expenses. Selling, general and administrative expenses decreased $13.8 million, or 9.0%, to $139.5 million in the first half of 2022 from $153.3 million in the same period of 2021. The decrease was due primarily to an $11.1 million decrease in incentive-based compensation as a result of unfavorable operating results in relation to budget this year (compared to overperformance in the first half last year) and an adjustment to compensation costs for certain performance-based awards that are no longer probable to vest, as well as higher costs last year related to the recognition of incremental compensation costs related to the conversion of nonvested cash-settled units to nonvested shares. Also contributing to the lower expense were $2.4 million of one-time items in the second quarter of 2022 as discussed above, along with a decrease in credit card processing fees and a decrease in payroll expense related to headcount reductions. These decreases were partially offset by a $1.1 million increase in rent related to the sale- 13 Table of Contents leaseback of our Darlington distribution center and the general impact on expenses of opening and operating more stores. As a percentage of sales, Selling, general and administrative expenses increased to 35.5% in the first half of 2022 from 29.3% in the first half of 2021, primarily due to the deleveraging effect of lower sales. Depreciation. Depreciation expense increased $1.0 million, or 10.6%, to $10.7 million in the first half of 2022 from $9.7 million in the same period last year. Gain on sale-leaseback. In the first quarter of 2022, we completed a sale-leaseback transaction for our distribution center in Darlington, South Carolina that resulted in a $34.9 million gain. Income Tax Expense. Income tax expense was $8.5 million in the first half of 2022 compared to $11.9 million in the first half of 2021 due primarily to lower pretax income this year. Net Income. Net income was $27.7 million in the first half of 2022 compared to $43.4 million in the same period of 2021 due to the factors discussed above. Liquidity and Capital Resources Capital Allocation Our capital allocation strategy is to prioritize investments in opportunities to profitably grow our business and maintain current operations, then to return excess cash to shareholders through our repurchase programs. Our quarter-end cash and cash equivalents balance was $27.9 million compared to $76.8 million at the end of the second quarter last year. Until required for other purposes, we maintain cash and cash equivalents in deposit or money market accounts. Our principal sources of liquidity consist of: (i) cash and cash equivalents on hand; (ii) short-term trade credit arising from customary payment terms and trade practices with our vendors; (iii) cash generated from operations on an ongoing basis; and (iv) a revolving credit facility with a $75.0 million credit commitment. In addition, in April 2022, we completed a sale-leaseback transaction of our distribution center in Darlington, South Carolina, for pretax proceeds of $45.5 million. In September 2022, we completed a sale-leaseback transaction of our distribution center in Roland, Oklahoma, for pretax proceeds of $35.6 million. Inventory Our quarter-end inventory balance was $142.1 million, compared with $113.2 million at the end of the second quarter last year. The increase was primarily due to reduced inventory levels at the end of the second quarter last year driven by outsized sales, combined with opportunistic purchases of packaway inventory at the end of fiscal 2021 and during the first quarter of this year. Capital Expenditures Capital expenditures in the first half of 2022 were $18.4 million, an increase of $6.4 million over the first half of 2021 as we invested in our strategic initiatives, including opening 10 new stores, remodeling 32 stores and continuing our investments in system upgrades and distribution center enhancements. We anticipate capital expenditures in fiscal 2022 of approximately $22 million, with plans in the second half of the year to open up to five additional new stores, remodel approximately 10 more stores and continue the ongoing investments in our systems and distribution centers. Share Repurchases During the first half of 2022 and 2021, we returned $10.0 million and $64.4 million, respectively, to shareholders through share repurchases. See Part II of this Report and Note 8 to the Financial Statements for more information. Revolving Credit Facility We have a revolving credit facility that matures in April 2026 and provides a $75.0 million credit commitment and a $25.0 million uncommitted “accordion” feature. Additional details of the credit facility are in Note 5 to the Financial Statements . At the end of the second quarter of 2022, we had no borrowings under the credit facility and $0.6 million in letters of credit outstanding. 14 Table of Contents Cash Flows Cash Flows From Operating Activities . Net cash used in operating activities was $38.2 million in the first half of 2022 compared to cash provided of $56.8 million in the same period of 2021. Sources of cash this year included net income adjusted for insurance proceeds, non-cash expenses and gain on sale-leaseback totaling $32.7 million (compared to $82.2 million in the first half of 2021) and a decrease of $3.4 million in income tax receivable. Significant uses of cash from operating activities in the first half of 2022 included (1) a $24.1 million decrease in accrued expenses and other long-term liabilities (compared to a $22.6 million decrease in the first half of 2021) due primarily to payments of operating lease liabilities; (2) a $19.5 million increase in inventory (compared to a $9.7 million increase in the same period last year); (3) a $16.3 million decrease in accounts payable (compared to a $14.3 million increase last year) due to significantly fewer inventory purchases in the last two months of the quarter, with substantially all of such purchases sitting in accounts payable at the end of the quarter; and (4) a $12.9 million decrease in accrued compensation (compared to a $4.8 million decrease in the same period last year) due to payment in the first quarter of incentive compensation accrued in the preceding fiscal year. Cash Flows From Investing Activities. Cash provided by investing activities was $28.4 million in the first half of 2022 compared to cash used of $36.4 million in the same period last year. Cash provided in the first half of 2022 consisted of $45.5 million net proceeds from the sale of a building in the sale-leaseback transaction, partially offset by $18.4 million for purchases of property and equipment. Cash used for investing activities in the first half of 2021 consisted of $24.6 million purchases of investment securities and $12.0 million purchases of property and equipment. Cash Flows From Financing Activities. Cash used in financing activities was $12.1 million in the first half of 2022 compared to $66.8 million in the same period last year. Cash used in the first half of 2022 consisted primarily of $10.0 million for repurchases of our common stock. Cash used in the first half of 2021 consisted primarily of $64.4 million for repurchases of our common stock. Cash Requirements and Commitments Our principal cash requirements consist of (1) inventory purchases; (2) capital expenditures to invest in our infrastructure; and (3) operational needs, including salaries, occupancy costs, taxes and other operating costs. We may also use cash to fund any share repurchases, make any required debt payments and satisfy other contractual obligations. Historically, we have met these cash requirements using cash flow from operations and short-term trade credit. As of July 30, 2022, our contractual commitments for operating leases totaled $247.8 million (with $47.5 million due within 12 months). See Note 10 to the Financial Statements for more information regarding lease commitments. Critical Accounting Policies The preparation of our condensed consolidated financial statements in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and the disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period. Actual results could differ from those estimates. There have been no material changes to the Critical Accounting Policies outlined in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended January 29, 2022. Item 3. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk. There have been no material changes in our market risk during the twenty-six weeks ended July 30, 2022 compared to the disclosures in Part II, Item 7A of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended January 29, 2022 . 15 Table of Contents