Apparel retailer Men's Wearhouse Q3 FY'13 sales up 2.8%

Highlights:

- Q3 2013 total net sales increased 2.8% to $649 million
- Q3 2013 GAAP diluted earnings per share was $0.79 and adjusted diluted earnings per share was $0.90, compared to prior year diluted earnings per share of $0.95
- Q3 2013 comparable store sales at Men's Wearhouse brand increased 2.6%
- Company reaffirms EPS guidance for fiscal full year 2013

Total net sales for the fiscal 2013 third quarter increased 2.8% to $648.9 million from $631.0 million in last year's third quarter.  GAAP diluted EPS was $0.79 for the third quarter of 2013.  Adjusted diluted EPS was $0.90 excluding one-time costs.  Third quarter results were in-line with internal expectations and were below 2012 third quarter results primarily due to lower tuxedo margin.

Total net sales for the first nine months of fiscal 2013 increased 1.7% to $1.9 billion and GAAP diluted EPS was $2.29.  Adjusted EPS for the 2013 nine month period was $2.55 excluding one-time costs.

Doug Ewert, Men's Wearhouse president and chief executive officer, commented, "We are very pleased to report our 2.6% comparable store sales increase during the third quarter in our Men's Wearhouse brand, which represents two-thirds of our consolidated sales. 

"We are also very pleased with the early progress in integrating our newly acquired American designer brand, Joseph Abboud, and its U.S. manufacturing operations.  We already have several large markets with Joseph Abboud product in place and will continue to execute on our planned rollout to all stores into the summer of 2014."

THIRD QUARTER STRATEGIC REVIEW

In July 2013, the Company entered into an accelerated share repurchase agreement with J.P. Morgan Securities LLC to purchase $100.0 million of our common stock.  In September 2013, JPMorgan delivered an additional 455,769 shares, resulting in a total of 2,653,287 shares repurchased under the agreement.

On August 6, 2013, the Company successfully completed its acquisition of JA Holding, Inc., the parent company of the celebrated American clothing brand Joseph Abboud and a U.S. tailored clothing factory for approximately $97.5 million in cash consideration, subject to certain adjustments.  The total net cash consideration after these adjustments was approximately $95.7 million.  We believe this transaction will accelerate our strategy of offering exclusive brands with broad appeal at attractive prices.

On October 9, 2013, the Company rejected an unsolicited, non-binding proposal from Jos. A. Bank to acquire the Company for $48.00 per share believing the proposal significantly undervalued the Company and failed to reflect the Company's growth strategy and upside potential.

On November 26, 2013, the Company announced that it submitted a proposal to the Board of Directors of Jos. A. Bank to acquire all of the outstanding shares of Jos. A. Bank common stock for $55.00 per share in cash, representing an implied enterprise value of approximately $1.2 billion.

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Men's Wearhouse