NEWS - Retail & Shopping Centers

By Lou Phelps

June 14, 2010 - Chatham County has only two companies headquartered here that are publicly traded, and one of them is nothing short of a dramatic succes.

The urban clothing store chain Citi Trends Inc. held it s annual meeting of stockholders recently and released it’s first quarter 2010 operating results.  

The stockholders approved all the proposals set forth in this year’s proxy statement, with each of the directors re-elected for additional three-year terms until the annual meeting of stockholders in 2013. 

A stock dividend of $.86 per share was announced, up from $ .54 for the same quarter last year.

The company continues to experience dramatic growth. Sales increased from $143 million to $181 million for the thirteen weeks ended May 1 2009 versus 2010 respectively, and after cost of sales, reported gross profit increases for the quarter from $57 million to $72 million, a 26.8% increase.

For the fiscal quarter ended May 1, 2010, the company reported net income of $12.4 million up from $7.9 million for the same quarter last year, and had $83.4 million cash on hand. Some of the sales revenue growth was from new stores opened during the period.

In March, the company’s SEC filings revealed that the internationally known Soros Fund had purchased the company’s stock.