Toys"R"Us, Inc. Reports Results For First Quarter 2017

WAYNE, N.J., June 13, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Toys"R"Us, Inc. today reported financial results for the first quarter of fiscal 2017, which ended April 29, 2017.  Consolidated Adjusted EBITDA¹ was $44 million for the quarter, a decline of $35 million.

"The challenges we faced during Holiday 2016 continued in the marketplace during the first quarter. Overall weakness in the baby business, as well as slower growth in the toy category and very aggressive price discounting by our competitors were significant contributors to our disappointing results.  However, we have several key initiatives which we expect to drive growth during the second half of the year," said Dave Brandon, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Toys"R"Us, Inc.  "Among the more noteworthy projects are our new webstore and baby registry, which will be implemented this summer; new capabilities in CRM; an enhanced Loyalty program and additional shop-in-shops to drive traffic.  We expect this work will have a meaningful difference on the customer experience in both our webstore and bricks and mortar locations."

First Quarter 2017

• Consolidated net sales were $2,206 million, a decrease of $113 million compared to the prior year period. Excluding a $24 million negative impact from foreign currency translation, net sales declined by $89 million largely attributable to declines in the baby category.
• Consolidated same store sales decreased by 4.1%, driven by a 6.2% decline in our Domestic business. International declined by 0.6%, resulting from weaker sales in Europe and was partially offset by growth in Asia Pacific.
• Gross margin dollars were $783 million, a decline of $63 million compared to the prior year period. Excluding a $10 million unfavorable impact from foreign currency translation, gross margin dollars decreased by $53 million. Gross margin rate was 35.5%, a decrease of 100 basis points. Domestic gross margin rate declined by 170 basis points, due to an increase in sales on promotion and additional inventory reserves. International gross margin rate remained relatively consistent with the prior year period.
• SG&A was $779 million, a decrease of $26 million compared to the prior year period. Excluding a $9 million favorable impact from foreign currency translation, SG&A decreased by $17 million, primarily as a result of our expense reduction initiative.
• Operating losses were $54 million, an increase of $47 million compared to the prior year period. Domestic segment operating earnings declined by $38 million primarily due to reduced gross margin dollars. International operating earnings decreased by $10 million due to increased operating expenses. Corporate overhead remained relatively flat compared to the prior year period.
• Adjusted EBITDA¹ for the quarter was $44 million, compared to $79 million in the prior year period.
• The above results produced a Net loss of $164 million, compared to $126 million in the prior year period.

Liquidity and Capital Spending

The company, including Toys"R"Us-Delaware, Inc., ended the first quarter with total liquidity of $701 million, which was comprised of cash and cash equivalents of $301 million and availability under committed lines of credit of $400 million.  Toys"R"Us-Delaware, Inc. ended the quarter with $211 million of liquidity, which was comprised of cash and cash equivalents of $35 million and availability under its revolving line of credit of $176 million.

Through the end of the first quarter, capital spending was $39 million, compared to $50 million in the prior year period, a decrease of $11 million.

¹ A detailed description and reconciliation of EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA for Toys"R"Us, Inc. and Toys"R"Us-Delaware, Inc., and management's reasons for using these measures, are set forth at the end of this press release.  LTM Adjusted EBITDA represents Adjusted EBITDA for the last twelve months.

About Toys"R"Us, Inc.

Toys"R"Us, Inc. is the world's leading dedicated toy and baby products retailer, offering a differentiated shopping experience through its family of brands.  Merchandise is sold in 879 Toys"R"Us and Babies"R"Us stores in the United States, Puerto Rico and Guam, and in 815 international stores and over 255 licensed stores in 37 countries and jurisdictions.  With its strong portfolio of e-commerce sites including Toysrus.com and Babiesrus.com, the company provides shoppers with a broad online selection of distinctive toy and baby products.  Toys"R"Us, Inc. is headquartered in Wayne, NJ, and has nearly 65,000 employees worldwide.  The company is committed to serving its communities as a caring and reputable neighbor through programs dedicated to keeping kids safe and helping them in times of need.  Over the past three decades, the Company has given more than $100 million in product donations to children's charities.  Since 1992, the Toys"R"Us Children's Fund, a public charity affiliated with Toys"R"Us, Inc., has also donated more than $130 million in grants.  For more information, visit Toysrusinc.com or follow @ToysRUsNews on Twitter.

Forward-Looking Statements

All statements that are not historical facts in this press release, including statements about our beliefs or expectations, are forward-looking statements.  These statements are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors, including, among others, the seasonality of our business, competition in the retail industry, changes in our product distribution mix and distribution channels, general economic factors in the United States and other countries in which we conduct our business, consumer spending patterns, birth rates, our ability to implement our strategy including implementing initiatives for season, our ability to recognize cost savings, implementation and operation of our new e-commerce platform, marketing strategies, the availability of adequate financing, ability to repatriate cash from our foreign operations, ability to distribute cash from our operating subsidiaries to their parent entities, access to trade credit, changes in consumer preferences, changes in employment legislation, our dependence on key vendors for our merchandise, political and other developments associated with our international operations, costs of goods that we sell, labor costs, transportation costs, domestic and international events affecting the delivery of toys and other products to our stores, product safety issues including product recalls, the existence of adverse litigation, changes in laws that impact our business, our substantial level of indebtedness and related debt-service obligations, restrictions imposed by covenants in our debt agreements and other risks, uncertainties and factors set forth in our reports and documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (which reports and documents should be read in conjunction with this press release).  In addition, we typically earn a disproportionate part of our annual operating earnings in the fourth quarter as a result of seasonal buying patterns and these buying patterns are difficult to forecast with certainty.  We believe that all forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions when made; however, we caution that it is impossible to predict actual results or outcomes or the effects of risks, uncertainties or other factors on anticipated results or outcomes and that, accordingly, one should not place undue reliance on these statements.  Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they were made, and we undertake no obligation to update these statements in light of subsequent events or developments unless required by the Securities and Exchange Commission's rules and regulations.  Actual results and outcomes may differ materially from anticipated results or outcomes discussed in any forward-looking statement.

Non-GAAP Disclosure of EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA

We believe Adjusted EBITDA is useful to investors because it is frequently used by securities analysts, investors and other interested parties in the evaluation of companies in our industry.  Investors in the Company regularly request Adjusted EBITDA as a supplemental analytical measure to, and in conjunction with, the Company's financial data prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States ("GAAP").  We understand that investors use Adjusted EBITDA, among other things, to assess our period-to-period operating performance and to gain insight into the manner in which management analyzes operating performance.

In addition, we believe that Adjusted EBITDA is useful in evaluating our operating performance compared to that of other companies in our industry because the calculation of EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA generally eliminates the effects of financing and income taxes and the accounting effects of capital spending and acquisitions, which items may vary for different companies for reasons unrelated to overall operating performance.  We use the non-GAAP financial measures for planning and forecasting and measuring results against the forecast and in certain cases we use similar measures for bonus targets for certain of our employees.  Using several measures to evaluate the business allows us and investors to assess our relative performance against our competitors.

Although we believe that Adjusted EBITDA can make an evaluation of our operating performance more consistent because it removes items that do not reflect our core operations, other companies, even in the same industry, may define Adjusted EBITDA differently than we do.  As a result, it may be difficult to use Adjusted EBITDA or similarly named non-GAAP measures that other companies may use to compare the performance of those companies to our performance.  The Company does not, and investors should not, place undue reliance on EBITDA or Adjusted EBITDA as measures of operating performance.

Reconciliation of Net loss attributable to Toys "R" Us, Inc. to EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA is as follows:

A reconciliation of Net (loss) earnings to EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA for Toys "R" Us-Delaware, Inc. is as follows:

SOURCE Toys"R"Us, Inc.