J.Jill, Inc. Announces Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2024 Results; Increases Quarterly Dividend by 14.3%

Q4 FY24 Net Sales of $142.8 Million and FY24 Net Sales of $610.9 Million

Q4 FY24 Gross Margin of 66.3% and FY24 Gross Margin of 70.4%

Q4 FY24 Operating Income of $5.1 Million and FY24 Operating Income of $75.7 Million

J.Jill, Inc. (NYSE:JILL) today announced financial results for the fourth quarter and fiscal year ended February 1, 2025 and that the Board declared a cash dividend of $0.08 per share payable on April 16, 2025 to stockholders of record of issued and outstanding shares of the Company's common stock as of April 2, 2025. The quarterly dividend reflects a 14.3% increase over the previous dividend and equates to an annualized dividend rate of $0.32 per common share.

Claire Spofford, President and Chief Executive Officer of J.Jill, Inc. stated, "Fiscal 2024 performance is a testament to our disciplined operating model as we delivered on our objectives while strengthening our balance sheet, implementing robust total shareholder return strategies and investing in new store growth and systems. Although this year was not without challenges as we continued to navigate a dynamic macro environment, I am proud of all that the team has accomplished enabling us to continue to drive strong cash generation supporting the recent increase of the quarterly dividend and ongoing investment in growth strategies and capital priorities. As we enter fiscal 2025, despite the uncertain outlook near-term with the slow start to Q1 and continued price sensitivity from customers, I am confident in the team's ability to continue to operate with discipline while positioning the brand for long-term success. With the implementation of the new Order Management System underway, a pipeline of new stores building and new leadership with Mary Ellen Coyne joining later this spring, there is much to look forward to as J.Jill enters its next chapter well positioned to lean into growth."

For the fourth quarter ended February 1, 2025:

• Net sales for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2024 decreased 4.9% to $142.8 million compared to $150.3 million for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2023. The decrease includes the loss of $7.9 million of net sales from the 53rd week of fiscal year 2023 and approximately $2.0 million related to the calendar shift associated with the 53^rd week in fiscal 2023.
• Total company comparable sales, which includes comparable store and direct to consumer sales, increased by 1.9% for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2024 compared to the fourth quarter of fiscal 2023.
• Direct to consumer net sales, which represented 50.5% of net sales, were down 6.8% compared to the fourth quarter of fiscal 2023.
• Gross profit was $94.8 million compared to $101.4 million in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2023. Gross margin was 66.3% compared to 67.5% in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2023.
• SG&A was $89.3 million compared to $90.8 million in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2023. SG&A as a percentage of total net sales was 62.5% compared to 60.4% for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2023.
• Operating income was $5.1 million compared to $10.5 million in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2023. Operating income margin for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2024 was 3.6% compared to 7.0% in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2023. Adjusted Income from Operations* was $9.0 million compared to $11.5 million in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2023. Adjusted Income from Operations as a percentage of total net sales was 6.3% compared to 7.6% in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2023.
• Interest expense was $2.7 million compared to $6.9 million in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2023. Interest income was $0.5 million in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2024 compared to $1.0 million in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2023.
• During the fourth quarter of fiscal 2024, the Company recorded an income tax provision of $0.7 million compared to an income tax benefit of $0.2 million in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2023 and the effective tax rate was 23.0% compared to (4.0%) in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2023.
• Net Income was $2.2 million compared to $4.8 million in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2023.
• Net Income per Diluted Share was $0.14 for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2024 and compared to $0.33 in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2023. Adjusted Net Income per Diluted Share* in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2024 was $0.32 compared to $0.28 in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2023.
• Adjusted EBITDA* for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2024 was $14.5 million compared to $17.8 million in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2023. Adjusted EBITDA margin* for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2024 was 10.2% compared to 11.8% in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2023. The decrease includes the loss of $2.2 million of Adjusted EBITDA from the 53rd week of fiscal year 2023.
• The Company opened five new stores in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2024. The store count at the end of the fourth quarter is 252 stores.

For year ended February 1, 2025:

• Net sales for year ended February 1, 2025 increased 0.5% to $610.9 million compared to $608.0 million for year ended February 3, 2024. The 53rd week in fiscal 2023 contributed $7.9 million of net sales compared to the 52 week fiscal 2024.
• Total company comparable sales, which includes comparable store and direct to consumer sales, increased by 1.5% for year ended February 1, 2025 compared to the year ended February 3, 2024.
• Direct to consumer net sales, which represented 47.5% of net sales, were up 1.9% compared to year ended February 3, 2024.
• Gross profit was $429.9 million compared to $430.8 million for year ended February 3, 2024. Gross margin was 70.4% compared to 70.8% for year ended February 3, 2024.
• SG&A was $353.4 million compared to $344.5 million for year ended February 3, 2024. SG&A as a percentage of total net sales was 57.9% compared to 56.7% for year ended February 3, 2024.
• Operating income was $75.7 million compared to $86.1 million for year ended February 3, 2024. Operating income margin for year ended February 1, 2025 was 12.4% compared to 14.2% for year ended February 3, 2024. Adjusted Income from Operations* was $84.9 million compared to $89.3 million for year ended February 3, 2024. Adjusted Income from Operations as a percentage of total net sales was 13.9% compared to 14.7% for year ended February 3, 2024.
• Interest expense was $15.7 million compared to $26.8 million for year ended February 3, 2024. Interest income was $2.6 million compared to $2.8 million for year ended February 3, 2024.
• During year ended February 1, 2025, the Company recorded an income tax provision of $14.5 million compared to $13.2 million for year ended February 3, 2024 and the effective tax rate was 26.9% compared to 26.7% for year ended February 3, 2024.
• Net Income was $39.5 million compared to $36.2 million for year ended February 3, 2024.
• Net Income per Diluted Share was $2.61 compared to $2.51 for year ended February 3, 2024. Adjusted Net Income per Diluted Share* for year ended February 1, 2025 was $3.47 compared to $3.32 for year ended February 3, 2024.
• Adjusted EBITDA* for year ended February 1, 2025 was $107.1 million compared to $112.9 million for year ended February 3, 2024. Adjusted EBITDA margin* for year ended February 1, 2025 was 17.5% compared to 18.6% for year ended February 3, 2024. The 53rd week in fiscal 2023 contributed $2.2 million of Adjusted EBITDA compared to the 52 week fiscal 2024.
• The Company opened nine new stores for year ended February 1, 2025 and temporarily closed one store due to hurricane damage, which has an uncertain reopening date. The store count at the end of year ended February 1, 2025 is 252 stores.

Balance Sheet Highlights

• Net Cash provided by Operating Activities for year ended February 1, 2025, was $65.0 million compared to $63.3 million for year ended February 3, 2024. Free cash flow* was $47.3 million compared to $46.4 million for year ended February 3, 2024. The Company ended the fourth quarter of fiscal 2024 with a cash balance of $35.8 million which includes $0.4 million in restricted cash for the year ended February 1, 2025.
• Inventory at the end of the fourth quarter of fiscal 2024 was $61.3 million compared to $53.3 million at the end of the fourth quarter of fiscal 2023.

*Non-GAAP financial measures. Please see "Non-GAAP Financial Measures" and "Reconciliation of GAAP Net Income to Adjusted EBITDA," "Reconciliation of GAAP Operating Income to Adjusted Income from Operations," "Reconciliation of GAAP Net Income to Adjusted Net Income," and "Reconciliation of GAAP Cash from Operations to Free Cash Flow" for more information.

Share Repurchase Authorization

On December 6, 2024, J.Jill's Board of Directors authorized a share repurchase program for up to an aggregate amount of $25.0 million of the Company's outstanding common stock over the next two years. The program is expected to be funded through the Company's existing cash and future free cash flow. The timing of any repurchases and the number of shares repurchased are subject to the discretion of Board of Directors and may be affected by various factors, including general market and economic conditions, the market price of the Company's common stock, the Company's earnings, financial condition, capital requirements and levels of indebtedness, legal requirements, and other factors that management may deem relevant. The share repurchase program authorization does not obligate the Company to acquire any shares of its common stock and may be amended, suspended or discontinued at any time. Shares may be repurchased from time to time through open market transactions, block trades, or such other manner as the Company may determine, in accordance with applicable insider trading and other securities laws and regulations under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and share repurchase parameters determined by the Board.

In the fourth quarter of fiscal 2024, the Company purchased 19,831 shares of common stock and has $24.5 million of availability remaining under its stock repurchase authorization.

Quarterly Dividend Payment

On December 4, 2024, the Board declared a cash dividend of $0.07 per share, payable on January 9, 2025 to stockholders of record of issued and outstanding shares of the Company's common stock as of December 26, 2024.

Outlook

For the first quarter of fiscal 2025, the Company expects:

• Net sales to decline 1% to 4% compared to the first quarter of fiscal 2024
• Comparable Sales to decline 2% to 5% compared to the first quarter of fiscal 2024
• Adjusted EBITDA to be in the range of $25.0 million to $27.0 million

The above outlook reflects the most difficult quarterly comparison and contemplates the negative revenue impacts from adverse weather in February and approximately $1.5 million related to the initial phase of OMS implementation.

For the full year fiscal 2025, the Company expects:

• Net Sales to be up 1% to 3% compared to fiscal 2024
• Comparable Sales to be in the range of flat to up 2% compared to fiscal 2024
• Adjusted EBITDA to be in the range of $101.0 million to $106.0 million
• New Net Store Growth of 5 to 10 stores
• Total Capital Expenditures of approximately $25.0 million
• Free Cash Flow of about $40.0 million.

The above outlook contemplates factors described above in Q1 fiscal 2025 as well as the expected benefit from new store openings and new omni-channel capabilities from the OMS implementation in the second half of fiscal 2025.

Conference Call Information

A conference call to discuss fourth quarter 2024 results is scheduled for today, March 19, 2025, at 8:00 a.m. Eastern Time. Those interested in participating in the call are invited to dial (888) 596-4144 or (646) 968-2525 if calling internationally. Please dial in approximately 10 minutes prior to the start of the call and reference Conference ID 7311773 when prompted. A live audio webcast of the conference call will be available online at http://investors.jjill.com/Investors-Relations/News-Events/events.

A taped replay of the conference call will be available approximately two hours following the call and can be accessed both online and by dialing (800) 770-2030 or (609) 800-9909. The pin number to access the telephone replay is 7311773. The telephone replay will be available until March 26, 2025.

About J.Jill, Inc.

J.Jill is a national lifestyle brand that provides apparel, footwear and accessories designed to help its customers move through a full life with ease. The brand represents an easy, thoughtful and inspired style that celebrates the totality of all women and designs its products with its core brand ethos in mind: keep it simple and make it matter. J.Jill offers a high touch customer experience through over 250 stores nationwide and a robust ecommerce platform. J.Jill is headquartered outside Boston. For more information, please visit www.jjill.com or http://investors.jjill.com. The information included on our websites is not incorporated by reference herein.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

To supplement our unaudited consolidated financial statements presented in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles ("GAAP"), we use the following non-GAAP measures of financial performance:

• Adjusted EBITDA, which represents net income plus depreciation and amortization, income tax provision, interest expense, interest expense - related party, interest income, equity-based compensation expense, write-off of property and equipment, amortization of cloud-based software implementation costs, loss on extinguishment of debt, loss on debt refinancing, adjustment for exited retail stores, impairment of long-lived assets, gain/loss due to hurricane, and other non-recurring items, primarily consisting of non-ordinary course professional fees, non-employee share-based payments, and legal settlements and fees associated with certain non-recurring transactions and events. We present Adjusted EBITDA on a consolidated basis because management uses it as a supplemental measure in assessing our operating performance, and we believe that it is helpful to investors, securities analysts and other interested parties as a measure of our comparative operating performance from period to period. We also use Adjusted EBITDA as one of the primary methods for planning and forecasting overall expected performance of our business and for evaluating on a quarterly and annual basis actual results against such expectations. Further, we recognize Adjusted EBITDA as a commonly used measure in determining business value and as such, use it internally to report results. We also use Adjusted EBITDA margin which represents, for any period, Adjusted EBITDA as a percentage of net sales.
• Adjusted Income from Operations, which represents operating income plus equity-based compensation expense, write-off of property and equipment, adjustment for exited retail stores, impairment of long-lived assets, gain/loss due to hurricane, and other non-recurring items. We present Adjusted Income from Operations because management uses it as a supplemental measure in assessing our operating performance, and we believe that it is helpful to investors, securities analysts, and other interested parties as a measure of our comparative operating performance from period to period.
• Adjusted Net Income, which represents net income plus income tax provision, equity-based compensation expense, write-off of property and equipment, loss on extinguishment of debt, loss on debt refinancing, adjustment for exited retail stores, impairment of long-lived assets, gain/loss due to hurricane, and other non-recurring items. We present Adjusted Net Income because management uses it as a supplemental measure in assessing our operating performance, and we believe that it is helpful to investors, securities analysts and other interested parties as a measure of our comparative operating performance from period to period.
• Adjusted Net Income per Diluted Share represents Adjusted Net Income divided by the number of fully diluted shares outstanding. Adjusted Net Income per Diluted Share is presented as a supplemental measure in assessing our operating performance, and we believe that it is helpful to investors, securities analysts and other interested parties as a measure of our comparative operating performance from period to period.
• Free Cash Flow represents cash flow from operations less capital expenditures. Free Cash Flow is presented as a supplemental measure in assessing our liquidity, and we believe that it is helpful to investors, securities analysts and other interested parties as a measure of our comparative liquidity and operating performance from period to period.

While we believe that Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA margin, Adjusted Income from Operations, Adjusted Net Income, Adjusted Diluted EPS and Free Cash Flow are useful in evaluating our business, they are non-GAAP financial measures that have limitations as analytical tools. These non-GAAP measures should not be considered alternatives to, or substitutes for, Net Income, Income from Operations, Net Income per Diluted Share or Cash from Operations, which are calculated in accordance with GAAP. In addition, other companies, including companies in our industry, may calculate these non-GAAP measures differently or not at all, which reduces the usefulness of such non-GAAP financial measures as tools for comparison. We recommend that you review the reconciliation and calculation of Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA margin, Adjusted Income from Operations, Adjusted Net Income, Adjusted Diluted EPS and Free Cash Flow to Net Income, Income from Operations, Net Income per Diluted Share and Cash from Operations, respectively, the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures, under "Reconciliation of GAAP Net Income to Adjusted EBITDA", "Reconciliation of GAAP Operating Income to Adjusted Income from Operations", "Reconciliation of GAAP Net Income to Adjusted Net Income" and "Reconciliation of GAAP Cash from Operations to Free Cash Flows" and not rely solely on Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA margin, Adjusted Income from Operations, Adjusted Net Income, Adjusted Net Income per Diluted Share, Free Cash Flow or any single financial measure to evaluate our business.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains, and oral statements made from time to time by our representatives may contain, "forward-looking statements." All statements other than statements of historical facts contained in this press release, including statements regarding our strategy, future operations, future financial position, future revenue, projected costs, prospects, plans, objectives of management, expected market growth and any activities, events or developments that we intend, expect or believe may occur in the future are forward-looking statements. Such statements are often identified by words such as "could," "may," "might," "will," "likely," "anticipates," "intends," "plans," "seeks," "believes," "estimates," "expects," "continues," "projects," "goal," "target" (although not all forward-looking statements contain these identifying words) and similar references to future periods, or by the inclusion of forecasts or projections. Forward-looking statements are based on our current expectations and assumptions regarding capital market conditions, our business, the economy and other future conditions and are not guarantees of future performance. Because forward-looking statements relate to the future, by their nature, they are inherently subject to a number of risks, uncertainties, potentially inaccurate assumptions and changes in circumstances that are difficult to predict. As a result, our actual results may differ materially from those contemplated by the forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in any forward-looking statements include regional, national or global political, economic, business, competitive, market and regulatory conditions, including risks regarding: (1) our sensitivity to changes in economic conditions and discretionary consumer spending; (2) the material adverse impact of pandemics, other health crises or natural disasters on our operations, business and financial results; (3) our ability to anticipate and respond to changing customer preferences, shifts in fashion and industry trends in a timely manner; (4) our ability to maintain our brand image, engage new and existing customers and gain market share; (5) the impact of operating in a highly competitive industry with increased competition; (6) our ability to successfully optimize our omnichannel operations, including our ability to enhance our marketing efforts and successfully realize the benefits from our investments in new technology, for example our recently implemented point-of-sale system and the forthcoming upgrade to our order management system; (7) our ability to use effective marketing strategies and increase existing and new customer traffic; (8) any interruptions in our foreign sourcing operations and the relationships with our suppliers and agents; (9) any increases in the demand for, or the price of, raw materials used to manufacture our merchandise and other fluctuations in sourcing and distribution costs; (10) any material damage or interruptions to our information systems; (11) our ability to protect our trademarks and other intellectual property rights; (12) our indebtedness restricting our operational and financial flexibility; (13) our ability to manage our inventory levels, size assortments and merchandise mix; (14) the fact that we are no longer a controlled company; (15) the impact of any new or increased tariffs; (16) our management succession plan; and (17) other factors that may be described in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"), including the factors set forth under "Risk Factors" in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended February 3, 2024 and our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended August 28, 2024. You are encouraged to read our filings with the SEC, available at www.sec.gov, for a discussion of these and other risks and uncertainties. We caution investors, potential investors and others not to place considerable reliance on the forward-looking statements in this press release and in the oral statements made by our representatives. Any such forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date on which it is made. J.Jill undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise.

(Tables Follow)

Summary Data from the Statement of Cash Flows

The following table provides a reconciliation of cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash reported within the consolidated balance sheets that sum to the total of the same such amounts shown in the consolidated statement of cash flows:

Reconciliation of GAAP Cash from Operations to Free Cash Flow

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