Designer Brands Investor Center

COLUMBUS, Ohio, May 23, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- DSW Inc. (NYSE: DSW), a leading branded footwear and accessories retailer, announced financial results for the thirteen week period ended April 29, 2017, compared to the thirteen week period ended April 30, 2016.

Roger Rawlins, Chief Executive Officer stated, "First quarter sales were challenging, but trends improved during the quarter with comps turning positive in April. As expected, planned clearance activity and the addition of Ebuys drove lower gross margin and operating income. The investments we have made in our digital capabilities, such as our redesigned website and mobile app, drove robust growth in digital demand. We are intently focused on driving sequential top line improvements through key product and customer initiatives while balancing strategic investments with disciplined expense management."

First Quarter Operating Results

• Sales increased 1.4% to $691.1 million, including $22.3 million of revenues from Ebuys.
• Comparable sales decreased 3.0% compared to last year's 1.6% decrease.
• Reported gross profit decreased by 180 bps, driven by planned clearance activity and the addition of Ebuys, offset by disciplined markdown management and favorable sourcing costs.
• Reported operating expenses improved by 40 bps, due to tighter expense management.
• Reported net income was $23.0 million, or $0.28 per diluted share, including pre-tax charges totaling $4.1 million, or $0.04 per share, related to the acquisition of Ebuys, restructuring costs and foreign exchange loss assumed in the process of pre-funding the upcoming Town Shoes acquisition.
• Adjusted net income was $25.7 million, or $0.32 per diluted share.

First Quarter Balance Sheet Highlights

• Cash, short-term and long-term investments totaled $254 million compared to $238 million in the first quarter last year.
• Inventories were $575 million compared to $563 million for the same period last year. On a cost per square foot basis, inventories declined by 2.6%.

Fiscal 2017 Annual Outlook

The Company reiterated its full year outlook for adjusted earnings in the range of $1.45 to $1.55 per diluted share.

Webcast and Conference Call

The Company is hosting a conference call today at 8:30 am Eastern Time. The conference will be broadcast live over the internet and can be accessed at http://dswinc.investorroom.com. For those unable to listen to the live broadcast, an archived version will be available at the same location until May 30, 2017. The teleconference will be available on replay and can be accessed by dialing 1-877-344-7529 and entering passcode 10107186.

About DSW Inc.

DSW Inc. is a leading branded footwear and accessories retailer that offers a wide selection of brand name and designer dress, casual and athletic footwear and accessories for women, men and kids. As of May 23, 2017, DSW operates 510 stores in 43 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, and operates an e-commerce site, http://www.dsw.com, and a mobile website, http://m.dsw.com. DSW also supplies footwear to 377 leased locations in the United States under the Affiliated Business Group. DSW also owns Ebuys, Inc., a leading off price footwear and accessories retailer operating in digital marketplaces in North America, Europe, Australia and Asia. For store locations and additional information about DSW, visit http://www.dswinc.com. Follow DSW on Twitter at http://twitter.com/DSWShoeLovers and Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/DSW.

Safe Harbor Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995

Any statements in this release that are not historical facts, including the statements made in our "Fiscal 2017 Annual Outlook," are forward-looking statements and are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are based on the Company's current expectations and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. These factors include, but are not limited to: our success in growing our store base and digital demand; our ability to protect our reputation; maintaining strong relationships with our vendors; our ability to anticipate and respond to fashion trends; our success in meeting customer expectations; disruption of our distribution and/or fulfillment operations; continuation of agreements with and our reliance on the financial condition of our affiliated business and international partners; our ability to successfully integrate Ebuys, Inc.; fluctuation of our comparable sales and quarterly financial performance; risks related to our information systems and data; failure to retain our key executives or attract qualified new personnel; our competitiveness with respect to style, price, brand availability and customer service; our reliance on our DSW Rewards program and marketing to drive traffic, sales and customer loyalty; uncertain general economic conditions; our reliance on foreign sources for merchandise and risks inherent to international trade; risks related to our handling of sensitive and confidential data; risks related to leases of our properties; risks related to prior and current acquisitions; risks related to future legislation, regulatory reform or policy changes; foreign currency exchange risk; and risks related to holdings of cash and investments. Additional factors that could cause our actual results to differ materially from our expectations are described in the Company's latest annual or quarterly report, as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. All forward-looking statements speak only as of the time when made. The Company undertakes no obligation to revise the forward-looking statements included in this press release to reflect any future events or circumstances.

Non-GAAP Measures

In addition to earnings per share and net income determined in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States ("GAAP"), for purposes of evaluating operating performance, the Company uses adjusted earnings per share and net income, which adjust for the effects of acquisition costs and the amortization expense of acquired intangible assets related to the Ebuys acquisition, restructuring costs related to the Company's expense management initiative, as well as foreign currency loss on Canadian dollar investments. The unaudited reconciliation of adjusted results should not be construed as an alternative to the reported results determined in accordance with GAAP. These financial measures are not based on any standardized methodology and are not necessarily comparable to similar measures presented by other companies. The Company believes that this non-GAAP information is useful as an additional means for investors to evaluate the Company's operating performance, when reviewed in conjunction with the Company's GAAP statements. These amounts are not determined in accordance with GAAP and therefore should not be used exclusively in evaluating the Company's business and operations.

SOURCE DSW Inc.