Buy Aimia, hold on to Reitmans

Article Excerpt

REITMANS (CANADA) LTD. $6.52 (Toronto symbol RET.A; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk) (514-384- 1140; www.reitmans.com; Shares outstanding: 64.6 million; Market cap: $412.6 million; Dividend yield: 3.1%) owns 719 women’s clothing stores across Canada. Those outlets are divided among several brands: Reitmans (307 stores), Penningtons (130), Addition Elle (103), RW & Co. (82), Thyme Maternity (63), Smart Set (15) and Hyba (19). The company also has 18 Thyme Maternity boutiques in Canadian Babies “R” Us stores. In the quarter ended July 30, 2016, sales rose 0.6%, to $254.4 million from $253.0 million a year earlier. Revenue increased despite the closure of 75 stores (mostly Smart Set locations) over the last year. Samestore sales gained 6.3%. Profit turnaround in progress In the quarter, the retailer earned $9.2 million, or $0.14 a share, compared to its loss of $222,000 million, or nil per share, a year earlier. Improved sales were a major factor in the turnaround as were the company’s sharply lower expenses. The decline in expenses was…