Sales of full-price merchandise drove women’s apparel cataloger/retailer J. Jill Group (Nasdaq: JILL) to a record second quarter.
Net income for the period increased 146%, to $6.4 million, compared with $2.6 million last year. Net sales for the three months ended June 29 were $86.4 million, a 31% increase from $66.2 million a year earlier.
Catalog and Internet sales rose 11%, to $56.0 million, thanks to strong response to full-price merchandise and increased catalog circulation. Second-quarter retail sales increased 90% as the company continued to roll out stores. Retail represented 35% of the company’s total second-quarter sales volume for the quarter, compared with 24% last year.
For the third quarter of 2002, the Quincy, MA-based company is projecting sales of $76.0 million-$79.0 million and earnings per diluted share of $0.17-$0.18. For the fourth quarter, J. Jill expects sales of $106.0 million- $110.0 million and earnings per diluted share of $0.41-$0.43. For the year, the company projects net sales of $342.0 million-$349.0 million and earnings per diluted share of $1.04-$1.07, compared with $0.70 last year.