Respectable.
That’s how William Dillard 2nd characterized his company’s performance in fiscal year 2025.
On Tuesday, the Little Rock, Ark.-based retailer reported that net income dipped slightly on sales that were unchanged from the prior year for the 52 weeks ended Jan. 31. Net income fell 3.9 percent to $570.2 million, or $36.42 a share, from $593.5 million, or $36.82 per share, for the 52 weeks ended Feb. 1, 2025. Included in net income for fiscal 2025 was a pretax gain of $20.4 million primarily related to the sale of five properties and federal and state income tax benefits of $35 million due to a special dividend of $30 a share that was paid to the Dillard’s Inc. Investment and Employee Stock Ownership Plan during the year, the company said.
In the prior fiscal year, the company reaped federal and state income tax benefits of $30.8 million for a special dividend of $25 a share paid to the Employee Stock Ownership Plan.
Total retail sales were $6.23 billion, virtually unchanged from the $6.22 billion posted in the prior fiscal year. Comparable-store sales were also unchanged from fiscal 2024.
In the fourth quarter, net income fell 5 percent to $203.7 million, or $13.05 a share, from $214.4 million, or $13.48 a share, the prior year and retail sales declined 1 percent to $1.96 billion from $2.02 billion in the year-ago period. Comparable-store sales were also down 1 percent in the period ended Feb. 1, 2025.
“We reported a respectable year,” Dillard said. “We achieved retail gross margin of 40.8 percent in a rapidly changing merchandising environment with unpredictable costs. We rewarded our shareholders with the largest dividend in our history and still held around $1.1 billion in cash and short-term investments at year-end.”
The company added that it will open a 160,000-square-foot location at The Mall at Fairfield Commons in Beavercreek, Ohio, in March. Overall, Dillard’s operates 271 stores including 28 clearance centers in 30 states.
