Kohl’s plans closure of 18 stores

The closure is a shift away from the company’s aggressive expansion of stores in recent years across the country.

Kohl’s Corporation (KSS – Analyst Report) is a U.S. based department store chain that operates specialty department stores and an e-commerce site in the U.S. The department store appeals to middle-class consumers as it sells discounted branded and private label clothing and home goods.

Kohl’s Corp. earned $296 million, or $1.58 per share.

Department store operators, including Kohl’s and Macy’s, have reported weak sales for most of a year ago, hurt by falling spending in categories such as apparel, unseasonably warm weather in the second half of 2015 and growing competition from online rivals such as Amazon.com Inc AMZN. O . “We are committed to leveraging our resources on our more productive assets”, Kevin Mansell, Kohl’s chairman, president and chief executive officer said in the financial statement.

For the year, the company reported profit of $673 million, or $3.46 per share.

That’s a major drop from the 3.7-percent increase Kohl’s saw in the fourth quarter of its 2014 retail year, when its stores stayed open more than 100 hours straight, from 6 a.m. December 19 through 6 p.m. Christmas Eve.

Analysts had predicted Q4 diluted EPS of $1.56 and revenue of $6.4 billion.

Kohl’s has not announced which stores will be involved. Company officials in Menomonee Falls said the affected locations will be announced by the end of next month.

On February 24, 2016 Kohl’s Board of Directors stated a quarterly cash dividend on the Company’s common stock of $0.50 per share, an 11% enhance over its preceding dividend.

For the fourth quarter ended January 30, Kohl’s said same store sales rose 0.4%. “The Company estimates that approximately $55 – $65 million of the charge will be recorded in the first quarter of 2016, with the remainder recorded in the second quarter”. Kohl’s has 1,164 stores in 49 states.