Conn's Cuts Earnings Forecast Below Market View - Quick Facts

(RTTNews) - Conn's, Inc. (CONN), a specialty retailer of home appliances, Thursday announced its preliminary fourth-quarter results, expecting to generate earnings per share of between $0.76 and $0.81.

The latest results include a net benefit of approximately $0.01 per share associated with facility closures. Adjusted earnings per share would range between $0.75 and $0.80, below the level anticipated in its previously issued full-year fiscal 2014 guidance.

On average, eight analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report earnings of $0.93 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

The company attributed the projected decline in earnings to the impact of increased provision for bad debt due to higher-than-expected accounts receivable charge-offs and delinquency rates in December and January, and portfolio growth.

For the quarter, same store sales rose an estimated 33.4 percent from the same period last year, and preliminary retail segment net sales increased 44.8 percent to an estimated $301.6 million.

For fiscal 2014, the company expects to generate earnings per share of between $2.55 and $2.60, and adjusted earnings per share between $2.59 and $2.64. Analysts estimate earnings of $2.77 per share. Previously, the company was projecting adjusted earnings in a range of $2.75 to $2.80 per share.

Further, for fiscal 2015, the company now expects earnings of $3.40 to $3.70 per share, lower than previous forecast of $3.80 to $4.00 per share. Analysts expect earnings of $3.96 per share.

The revision reflects the impact of higher-than-anticipated recent delinquency rates and lower expected sales increases, principally in the electronics category, the company said.

In pre-market activity, shares declined $8.80 or 15.77 percent, and traded at $47.