TAILORED BRANDS SHARES FALL ON FOURTH-QUARTER LOSS

Shares of Tailored Brands, the owner of Men’s Wearhouse and Jos. A. Bank, plunged 24 percent on Thursday morning after the specialty apparel company reported a fiscal fourth-quarter loss and offered uninspired guidance for the first quarter.

Tailored Brands reported an adjusted loss of $0.28 per share for the quarter ending February 2, slightly better than consensus estimates, on adjusted net sales of $770 million, which is down 10 percent year over year and below estimates. The company expects adjusted earnings of $0.10 to $0.15 per share in the first quarter, well short of analysts’ $0.50 forecast.

After Tailored Brands slashed guidance in January, the fourth-quarter results were expected. A weak first quarter was not. The company said it expects same-store sales at both its Men’s Wearhouse and Jos A. Bank stores to be down 3 to 5 percent in the first quarter. CFO Jack Calandra, on a call with investors, blamed the weak guidance on “significant headwinds,” including a late Easter that impacts when proms are held, as well as foreign exchange impacts and “current business trends.”

“While all of our retail brands delivered positive comps for the full year, during the fourth quarter, comps at Men’s Wearhouse and Jos. A. Bank were down and this trend has continued into the first quarter of 2019,” said Dinesh Lathi, executive chairman at Tailored Brands. “We attribute the current softness to both the macro-environment as well as the need for us to execute more quickly and effectively on our core growth strategies: deliver personalized products and services, create inspiring and seamless experiences in and across every channel, and build brands that stand for something more than just price. Our teams are intently focused on delivering against these objectives in fiscal 2019 as we look to build long-term sustainable value creation for our stakeholders.”