Designer Brands Inc. (NYSE:DBI) Q1 2024 Earnings Conference Call June 4, 2024 8:30 AM ET

Company Participants

Dustin Hauenstein - SVP of Finance
Doug Howe - CEO
Jared Poff - CFO
Andrea O'Donnell - President

Conference Call Participants

Mauricio Serna - UBS

Operator

Good morning, and welcome to the Designer Brands First Quarter 2024 Results Conference Call. [Operator Instructions] Please note, this event is being recorded.

I'd now like to turn the conference over to Dustin Hauenstein, Senior Vice President of Finance. Please go ahead.

Dustin Hauenstein

Good morning. Earlier today, the company issued a press release comparing results of operations for the 13-week ended May 4, 2024 to the 13-week period ended April 29, 2023. Please note that the financial results that we will be referencing during the remainder of today's call exclude certain adjustments recorded under GAAP unless specified otherwise. For a complete reconciliation of GAAP to adjusted earnings, please reference our press release.

Additionally, please note that remarks made about future expectations, plans and prospects of the company constitutes forward-looking statements. Results may differ materially due to the various factors listed in today's press release and the company's public filings with the SEC. The company assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements.

Joining us today are Doug Howe, Chief Executive Officer; Jared Poff, Chief Financial Officer; and Andrea O'Donnell, Brands President.

Now, let me turn the call over to Doug.

Doug Howe

Thank you for joining us this morning.

This quarter, we were pleased to deliver results in line with our expectations as we gain traction on our path to returning Designer Brands to growth. As a result of meeting our targets on both the top and bottom lines, we are also reaffirming our 2024 fiscal year guidance. As noted last quarter, we are confident that we have the right people and processes in place and believe that 2024 will continue to be a time of transition for Designer Brands as our refreshed leadership team implements thoughtful, strategic and operational improvements. We are seeing early signs that this refreshed focus is benefiting our organization. To that end, I would also like to thank our DBI associates for their ability to quickly adapt to new ways of working as we transform into a more efficient organization.

Turning to this quarter's results, in the first quarter, sales were up almost 1% versus last year and we saw a 2.5% decline in comparable sales. These results were in line with our expectations and demonstrated sequential improvement from the fourth quarter of fiscal 2023. We anticipate that comps will continue to improve throughout fiscal 2024 as our new strategic initiatives, which we will discuss on this call, are further implemented.