10-K 1 ann_10kx2014.htm 10-K ANN_10K_2014

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      
UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
FORM 10-K
(Mark One)
ý
ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
For the fiscal year ended January 31, 2015
OR
¨
TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
For the transition period from              to             
Commission File No. 1-10738
ANN INC.
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
DELAWARE
 
13-3499319
(State or other jurisdiction of
incorporation or organization)
 
(I.R.S. Employer
Identification Number)
 
 
7 Times Square, New York, NY
 
10036
(Address of principal executive offices)
 
(Zip Code)
(212) 541-3300
(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code)
_________________________________________________
 Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:
Title of Each Class
 
Name of each exchange on which registered
Common Stock, $.0068 Par Value
 
The New York Stock Exchange
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: None.
_________________________________________________
Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. Yes ý No  ¨.
Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act.    Yes ¨    No  ý.
Indicate by check mark whether registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days.    Yes  ý    No  ¨.
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically and posted on its corporate Website, if any, every Interactive Data File required to be submitted and posted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit and post such files).    Yes  ý    No  ¨.
Indicate by check mark if disclosure of delinquent filers pursuant to Item 405 of Regulation S-K (§229.405 of this chapter) is not contained herein, and will not be contained, to the best of registrant’s knowledge, in definitive proxy or information statements incorporated by reference in Part III of this Form 10-K or any amendment to this Form 10-K.  ý.
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, or a smaller reporting company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer” and “smaller reporting company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.
Large accelerated filer  ý            Accelerated filer  ¨            Non-accelerated filer  ¨            Smaller reporting company  ¨
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Act).    Yes  ¨    No  ý.
The aggregate market value of the registrant’s voting stock held by non-affiliates of the registrant as of August 2, 2014 was $1,626,507,237.
The number of shares of the registrant’s common stock outstanding as of February 27, 2015 was 45,719,544.
Documents Incorporated by Reference:
Portions of the Registrant’s Proxy Statement for the Registrant’s 2015 Annual Meeting of Stockholders to be held on May 20, 2015 are incorporated by reference into Part III.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      



ANN INC.
ANNUAL REPORT ON FORM 10-K INDEX
 
 
 
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Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Disclosures
This Annual Report on Form 10-K (this “Report”) includes, and incorporates by reference, certain forward-looking statements made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The forward-looking statements may use the words “expect,” “anticipate,” “plan,” “intend,” “project,” “may,” “believe” and similar expressions. These forward-looking statements reflect the current expectations of ANN INC. concerning future events and actual results may differ materially from current expectations or historical results. Any such forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties, including without limitation those discussed in the sections of this Report entitled “Business,” “Risk Factors” and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.” ANN INC. does not assume any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements at any time for any reason.


PART I

ITEM 1.
Business.

Overview
ANN INC., through its wholly-owned subsidiaries, is a leading national specialty retailer of women’s apparel, shoes and accessories, sold primarily under the “Ann Taylor” and “LOFT” brands. We were incorporated in the State of Delaware in 1988. For over sixty years, we have evolved with the needs of real women who live full, active lives. Our values are her values. We focus on providing an exceptional selection of fashion and everyday essentials to help our clients look their best. With two strong and established lifestyle brands in Ann Taylor and LOFT and our recently launched Lou & Grey concept, we are committed to being her ultimate wardrobing destination, dressing her from head-to-toe for every dimension of her life.
Our purpose is “to inspire and connect with women to put their best selves forward every day.” We do our part by driving social programs that are dedicated to women and the causes that matter most to them. This is evident in our strong brands as well as in our commitment to operate our business responsibly and thoughtfully. This commitment means that our clients can look and feel great about the clothes they wear, and that as a business, we are holding ourselves to high standards. It means forging strong partnerships with our suppliers so that our products are made ethically. It means investing in new programs and innovation to minimize our impact on the environment. And it means making meaningful contributions to our communities.
Our rich heritage dates back to 1954, when we opened our first Ann Taylor store in New Haven, Connecticut. Back then, “Ann Taylor” represented a best-selling dress style that embodied the well-dressed woman. As of January 31, 2015, we operated 1,030 retail stores in 47 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and Canada, comprised of 245 Ann Taylor stores, 537 LOFT stores, 116 Ann Taylor Factory stores, 127 LOFT Outlet stores and five Lou & Grey stores. In addition to our stores, our clients can shop online in more than 100 countries worldwide at www.anntaylor.com and www.LOFT.com (together, our “Websites”), by phone at 1-800-DIAL-ANN and 1-888-LOFT-444 or at three LOFT franchise locations in Mexico.
Unless the context indicates otherwise, all references to “we,” “our,” “us,” and “the Company” refer to ANN INC. and its wholly-owned subsidiaries.

Brands
Ann Taylor
Since 1954, Ann Taylor has been at the forefront of American fashion, leading the way with the idea that style shouldn’t be work and getting dressed should be about getting ready for really big days and those just as important small moments. From sharing expert wardrobing advice to helping find that perfect wear-now piece, we’ve been right there with our clients, making it all work together with clothes that are versatile enough to work anywhere and smart enough to work with everything. Ann Taylor is polished, modern feminine classics with an iconic style point of view for every aspect of her life.
LOFT
Originally established in 1995 as an extension of the Ann Taylor brand, LOFT now stands on its own with stores in the United States and Canada, as well as franchised locations in Mexico. LOFT offers modern, feminine and versatile clothing for a wide range of women with one common goal: to help them look and feel confident, wherever the day takes them. From everyday essentials to attainable trends, LOFT consistently serves up head-to-toe outfits and perfect pieces that make getting dressed feel effortless. LOFT is about styles that reflect the world she lives in. Beyond women’s wardrobe needs, LOFT creates genuine and lasting relationships with clients through trusted in-store stylists and an inviting store environment.


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Business Strategy
We are committed to growing and evolving our business to better support our brands, serve our clients and enhance corporate profitability and shareholder value.
Omni-channel
Our omni-channel retail strategy remains a central focus, enabling clients to seamlessly shop our brands across both store and online channels whenever and wherever they choose to shop. During Fiscal 2012, we successfully launched the first phase of our omni-channel initiative, which enabled store fulfillment of online sales. During Fiscal 2013, we built on this momentum by implementing e-receipt technology, enhancing our online search engine, and launching our client relationship management platform. During Fiscal 2014, we made further strides enhancing the client experience across all channels, launching a new mobile capability for our brands to improve the user experience and help drive increased conversion and piloting Phase 2 of our omni-channel “endless aisle” capabilities in select Ann Taylor and LOFT stores, thereby providing our clients access to online merchandise from the store environment. We anticipate full execution of Phase 2 across our brands in Fiscal 2015. We have additional plans to optimize our seamless omni-channel client experience in Fiscal 2015 and beyond to drive incremental sales and profitability. This includes the launch of enhanced online search capabilities, the implementation of “order online, pick-up in store” technology and the anticipated launch of Lou&Grey.com.
Our omni-channel retail strategy guides most aspects of our plans for growth at our brands, including:
•
Most merchandise styles are available both in-store and online, excluding LOFT maternity, which is available online only and represents a small percentage of LOFT’s combined in-store and online merchandise assortment;
•
Technology that enables store fulfillment of online sales and online fulfillment of store sales by allowing seamless access to inventory maintained at full-price brick-and-mortar stores or our third-party online fulfillment center;
•
Coordinated online events designed to effectively and profitably clear through markdown inventory at Ann Taylor and LOFT stores;
•
Continued integration of our merchandise planning, procurement and allocation functions to serve each brand’s full-price store and online channels;
•
Continued refinement of a cross-channel client relationship management tool focused on client behaviors across each brand’s full-price store and online channels;
•
Integrated marketing and client outreach efforts aimed at increasing traffic and conversion, both in-store and online;
•
Weekly brand-level business review meetings focused on the combined productivity of both in-store and online channels;
•
Field training and monetary incentives aimed at educating and encouraging store associates to effectively meet the needs of our clients across channels; and
•
Management incentive compensation programs at both Ann Taylor and LOFT that reward associates based on the combined performance of each brand’s full-price store and online channels.
We view the store and online operations of our full-price Ann Taylor and LOFT businesses as one single channel that allows clients to fully experience those brands, not just a channel within those brands. Further, we manage our full-price in-store and online operations as a single, integrated channel rather than as separate sales channels operating independently, with our Websites viewed as the largest store within each brand. In support of this, clients can return merchandise purchased at our Websites at any of their respective full-price brick-and-mortar brand locations. The technology and reports utilized to manage the business support this omni-channel approach, in that total sales and comparable sales are tracked on a combined basis. We believe this omni-channel approach to managing our full-price Ann Taylor and LOFT businesses is critical to meeting the ever-increasing expectations of our clients, and therefore critical to the ongoing success of our brands.
International Expansion
During Fiscal 2012, we opened our first stores in Canada, marking the first step in our international expansion efforts. In Fiscal 2013, we launched international shipping capabilities to more than 100 countries worldwide via our Websites, which not only extended the reach of our brands to clients outside of the U.S., but helped us identify and assess further international expansion opportunities. Building on this momentum, in Fiscal 2014, we also established a franchise partnership to facilitate our entry into Mexico, which resulted in the opening of three LOFT franchise store locations. We see further opportunity to expand our businesses in Canada and Mexico and will continue to evaluate further growth in territories outside of the U.S.
Lou & Grey
Fiscal 2014 also saw the launch of our new concept, Lou & Grey, which evolved from a growing part of our LOFT business, LOFT Lounge. Lou & Grey represents a new movement in women’s retail based on a thoughtfully designed and edited collection of easygoing, texture-rich styles for everyday wear. The store space is where beautifully made clothing seamlessly fits with a selection of locally made accessories and other unique products handcrafted by independent artisans. In early 2014, we

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tested the Lou & Grey concept with the opening of a store-in-store located in our Westport, Connecticut LOFT location. Following that, we continued to test and refine the Lou & Grey concept on a stand-alone basis, opening five free-standing stores in Fall 2014. In addition, we offer an edited assortment of Lou & Grey merchandise at our LOFT stores. With its casual, comfortable and effortless style, Lou & Grey is taking hold as its own brand, enabling us to meet another aspect of our clients’ wardrobing needs, while also attracting new clients to our brands.
Other Strategic Initiatives
In addition to omni-channel, international expansion and Lou & Grey, we continue to remain focused on optimizing productivity, profitability and diversification throughout the Company.
In this regard, during the first quarter of Fiscal 2014, we executed an organizational restructuring in support of our omni-channel retail strategy and our strategic growth initiatives. As part of the restructuring, we realigned certain functions within our corporate workforce, including our marketing, merchandise planning, procurement and allocation functions, to eliminate redundancy and integrate processes to better support our brands and serve our clients.
Following this, during the second half of Fiscal 2014, we launched a comprehensive end-to-end assessment of our supply chain designed to identify opportunities to enhance corporate profitability with a focus on speed, flexibility, improving product sell-through and reducing cost of goods sold. Every aspect of our supply chain, including geographic positioning, processes, raw materials negotiating, purchasing and logistics, is expected to benefit from this process. We expect to implement the strategies identified through this assessment in the second half of Fiscal 2015.
We will continue to evaluate other organic growth opportunities, including new merchandise and brand extensions, through our own internal efforts or by forging additional strategic partnerships. In addition, we will continue to assess inorganic growth opportunities, such as an acquisition, when we determine that such an opportunity will complement our existing brands and merchandise offerings and is in the best interest of our associates, clients and shareholders. Our primary focus, however, remains on our core businesses: Ann Taylor and LOFT.
Stores
We continue to focus considerable attention on optimizing our store portfolio in order to improve profitability and better serve our clients. We also believe continued investments in our Websites and further integration of our store and online channels will be a major contributor to our future growth.
Company-Operated Stores
Our retail stores are located in malls, specialty or lifestyle centers, downtown or village locations and destination shopping centers. We open new stores in markets that we believe have a sufficient concentration of our target clients. We also optimize the size and/or location of existing stores as demographic conditions warrant and sites become available. In addition, we regularly evaluate and invest in our current store base to elevate and modernize the in-store experience we provide to our clients.
Store locations are determined on the basis of various factors, including geographic location, demographic studies, anchor tenants in a mall location, other specialty stores in a mall or specialty center location or in the vicinity of a village location and the proximity to professional offices in a downtown or village location. We open our Ann Taylor Factory and LOFT Outlet stores in outlet centers with co-tenants that generally include a significant number of outlet or discount stores operated under nationally recognized upscale brand names. Store size is determined on the basis of various factors, including merchandise needs, geographic location, demographic studies and space availability.
We continued our store growth program in Fiscal 2014, opening 50 new stores, including three new stores in Canada, bringing our total store base in Canada to 13 stores at the end of Fiscal 2014. We also closed 45 underperforming stores. Capital expenditures related to our new stores totaled approximately $33.2 million and expenditures for store remodeling and refurbishment projects totaled approximately $38.5 million. In Fiscal 2014, total net square footage decreased by approximately 39,000 square feet, or approximately 1%, to approximately 5.8 million square feet, as compared to 5.9 million square feet at the end of Fiscal 2013.
In Fiscal 2015, we plan to open approximately 40 new stores in the U.S. and close approximately 35 U.S. stores. In addition, we plan to optimize the size of approximately 10 stores. We do not have any plans to open Company-operated stores outside of the U.S. in Fiscal 2015. Total net square footage is expected to decrease approximately 20,000 square feet, or approximately 0.3%, as compared to Fiscal 2014. Fiscal 2015 capital expenditures are expected to be approximately $35 million for new stores and approximately $25 million for store remodeling and refurbishment projects. Our store expansion and refurbishment plans are dependent upon, among other things, general economic and business conditions affecting consumer confidence and spending, the availability of desirable locations and the negotiation of acceptable lease terms. See “Risk Factors” and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations - Liquidity and Capital Resources.”

4

The following table sets forth certain information regarding our Company-operated Ann Taylor, LOFT, Ann Taylor Factory (“ATF”), LOFT Outlet (“LOS”) and Lou & Grey (“L&G”) retail stores over the past three fiscal years:
 
 
Ann Taylor Brand
 
LOFT Brand
 
 
 
 
Ann Taylor
 
 
 
 
LOFT
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 U.S.
 
 Canada
 
ATF
 
Total
U.S.
 
Canada
 
LOS
 
Total
 
L&G
Total
January 28, 2012
 
280

 
—

 
99

 
379

 
500

 
—

 
74

 
574

 
—

 
953

New
 
9

 
2

 
3

 
14

 
25

 
1

 
23

 
49

 
—

 
63

Closed
 
(16
)
 
—

 
(1
)
 
(17
)
 
(14
)
 
—

 
(1
)
 
(15
)
 
—

 
(32
)
February 2, 2013
 
273

 
2

 
101

 
376

 
511

 
1

 
96

 
608

 
—

 
984

New
 
5

 
2

 
7

 
14

 
33

 
5

 
14

 
52

 
—

 
66

Closed
 
(14
)
 
—

 
—

 
(14
)
 
(11
)
 
—

 
—

 
(11
)
 
—

 
(25
)
February 1, 2014
 
264

 
4

 
108

 
376

 
533

 
6

 
110

 
649

 
—

 
1,025

New
 
3

 
—

 
8

 
11

 
14

 
3

 
17

 
34

 
5

 
50

Closed
 
(26
)
 
—

 
—

 
(26
)
 
(19
)
 
—

 
—

 
(19
)
 
—

 
(45
)
January 31, 2015
 
241

 
4

 
116

 
361

 
528

 
9

 
127

 
664

 
5

 
1,030

We believe that our stores are located in some of the most productive retail centers in the U.S. and Canada and that our existing store base is a significant strategic asset of our business. During the past three years, we have invested approximately $307.3 million in our store base and approximately 81% of our stores are either new or have been expanded, downsized, remodeled or refurbished. Our stores typically have approximately 25% of their total square footage allocated to stockroom and other non-selling space.
Ann Taylor
Our primary focus at Ann Taylor is optimizing the productivity of the fleet by continuing to right-size stores to our smaller format and close underperforming stores. During Fiscal 2014, we opened three new Ann Taylor stores and right-sized and/or remodeled seven additional stores. As of January 31, 2015, we operated 245 Ann Taylor stores which averaged approximately 4,800 square feet. In Fiscal 2015, we plan to downsize approximately five additional stores.
LOFT
At LOFT, we continue to selectively expand the fleet by opening stores in small- and mid-sized markets, where we continue to see potential for additional growth. During Fiscal 2014, we opened 17 new LOFT stores and right-sized and/or remodeled 16 additional stores. As of January 31, 2015, we operated 537 LOFT stores which averaged approximately 5,700 square feet, including one LOFT flagship store on the ground floor of 7 Times Square, our corporate headquarters in New York City. In Fiscal 2015, we plan to open approximately 10 LOFT stores and downsize and/or remodel approximately five stores.
Lou & Grey
During Fiscal 2014, we launched the Lou & Grey concept on a stand-alone basis, opening both a shop-in-shop within an existing LOFT store and five free-standing Lou & Grey stores that average approximately 2,300 square feet. In Fiscal 2015, we plan to open approximately five free-standing Lou & Grey stores, as well as launch Lou&Grey.com to provide clients an integrated online shopping experience. We believe there is opportunity to further develop this concept and realize its potential.
Factory Outlet
In Fiscal 2014, we continued to grow our outlet fleet, opening eight new Ann Taylor Factory stores and 17 new LOFT Outlet stores. Both our Ann Taylor Factory and LOFT Outlet stores average approximately 6,600 square feet. In Fiscal 2015, we plan to further grow our factory outlet presence, and open approximately 10 new Ann Taylor Factory stores and 15 new LOFT Outlet stores.
Websites
Our Websites reinforce the unique aesthetic of our Ann Taylor and LOFT brands and are designed to complement the in-store experience we deliver to our clients. We offer our clients a high-quality online shopping experience, from merchandise availability and website design to order fulfillment and client service. We are committed to building a seamless, omni-channel experience for our clients and view our Websites not only as the largest store for each brand, but as a key enabler of this strategy.

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In Fiscal 2015, we plan to extend this strategy to our new concept, Lou & Grey, with the launch of Lou&Grey.com. We will continue to explore opportunities to further improve speed, navigation and our overall online shopping experience and expect the further integration and growth of our Websites to be a major contributor to our overall future growth. Refer to “Business Strategy” for further discussion.
International franchise stores
During Fiscal 2014, we entered into an agreement with a third-party franchisee to open Ann Taylor and LOFT stores in the territory of Mexico. In connection with this agreement, three LOFT franchise stores were opened in Mexico in Fall 2014. These franchise stores do not require any capital investment or significant operational involvement on our part. While we have the ability to participate in certain decisions of the franchisee, such as store location, lease terms and store construction and design, these actions are primarily for the purpose of protecting the image and integrity of our Ann Taylor and LOFT brands. During Fiscal 2015, we expect an additional five stores will be opened in Mexico in connection with this agreement.
International third-party franchise stores are not included in brand-level or Company-operated stores and square footage data included herein.
Merchandise Design and Production
Substantially all of our merchandise is developed by our in-house product design and development teams, who design merchandise exclusively for us. Our merchandising groups determine inventory needs for the upcoming season, edit the assortments developed by the design teams, plan merchandise flows and arrange for the production of merchandise by independent third-party manufacturers, primarily through our in-house sourcing group. We also complement our in-house assortments by purchasing a small percentage of merchandise from branded vendors.
Our production management and quality assurance departments establish the technical specifications for all merchandise and inspect the merchandise for quality, including periodic in-line inspections while goods are in production, to identify potential problems prior to shipment. Upon receipt, merchandise is inspected on a test basis for uniformity of size and color, as well as for conformity with specifications and overall quality of manufacturing.
In Fiscal 2014, we sourced Ann Taylor, LOFT and Lou & Grey branded products from approximately 135 manufacturers and vendors in 15 countries, with no single supplier accounting for more than 10% of merchandise purchased on a cost basis and only one supplier accounting for more than 10% of merchandise purchased on a unit basis. Approximately 35% of our merchandise unit purchases originated in China (representing approximately 38% of total merchandise cost), 19% in Indonesia (19% of total merchandise cost), 16% in Vietnam (10% of total merchandise cost), 13% in India (13% of total merchandise cost) and 10% in the Philippines (14% of total merchandise cost). Any event causing a sudden disruption of manufacturing or imports from any of these countries, including the imposition of additional import restrictions, could have a material adverse effect on our operations. However, we generally do not maintain any long-term or exclusive commitments or arrangements to purchase merchandise with any single supplier. In addition, all of our foreign purchases are negotiated and paid for in U.S. dollars.
We have a supply chain compliance program that requires our suppliers, factories and authorized subcontractors to comply with our Global Supplier Principles and Guidelines, as well as the local laws and regulations in the country of manufacture. We conduct unannounced third-party audits to confirm manufacturer adherence to our compliance standards. We are also a certified and validated member of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (“C-TPAT”) program and expect all of our suppliers shipping to the U.S. to adhere to our C-TPAT requirements. These include standards relating to facility security, procedural security, personnel security, cargo security and the overall protection of the supply chain. Third-party audits are conducted to confirm supplier compliance with our standards.
We believe we have solid relationships with our suppliers and that, subject to the discussion in “Risk Factors” and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations - Liquidity and Capital Resources,” we will continue to have adequate sources to produce a sufficient supply of quality merchandise in a timely manner and on satisfactory economic terms.
Inventory Control and Merchandise Allocation
Our planning departments analyze relevant historical product demand data (i.e., sales, margins, sales and inventory history of store clusters, etc.) by brand, size and store location, including our Websites, to assist in determining the quantity of merchandise to be purchased for, and the allocation of merchandise to, our channels. Merchandise is allocated to achieve an emphasis that is suited to each store’s client base, including our Websites. We also consider the effect our omni-channel initiative has had on in-store and online inventory levels in order to better inform our merchandise purchases and inventory allocation.
Merchandise is typically sold at its original marked price for several weeks, with the length of time varying by individual style or color choice and dependent on client acceptance. We also run point-of-sale promotions that temporarily reduce the

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merchandise selling price and may apply to both full-price and markdown merchandise. We review inventory levels on an ongoing basis to identify slow-moving merchandise styles and broken assortments (items no longer in stock in a sufficient range of sizes) and use markdowns to clear this merchandise. Markdowns may also be used if inventory levels exceed client demand for reasons of design, seasonal adaptation or changes in client preference. Substantially all of our merchandise inventory is cleared in-store or through our Websites.
Our core merchandising system is the central repository for inventory data and related business activities that affect inventory levels, such as purchasing, receiving, allocation and distribution. Our primary distribution center is located in Louisville, Kentucky, as discussed further in “Properties.” The majority of our merchandise is processed through our Louisville facility, which we own and operate. Additionally, we contract with third-party fulfillment vendors, utilizing a Bolingbrook, IL facility to fulfill online orders and a Toronto, Ontario facility for merchandise allocation to our Canadian stores. We also utilize a third-party distribution center bypass facility in City of Industry, CA. While a portion of our merchandise is processed through this bypass facility for direct distribution to our stores, it serves primarily as a trans-loading facility and a back-up distribution center in the event of a disaster.
Brand Building and Marketing
We believe that our Ann Taylor and LOFT brands are among our most important assets and that these brands and their relationships with our clients are key to our competitive advantage. Our focus on continually evolving our brands to appeal to the changing needs of our clients helps us stay relevant and competitive in the women’s retail apparel industry.
We manage all aspects of brand development for our retail concepts, including product design, store design and merchandising and brand marketing and advertising. We continue to invest in the development of our brands through client research and outreach, as well as in-store and direct marketing campaigns. We make strategic investments to optimize the overall client experience by focusing on client service, as well as opening new stores, reinvesting in existing stores and enhancing the online shopping experience at our Websites. In addition, we continue to build on our omni-channel retail strategy by making focused investments to support this initiative.
We believe it is essential to communicate on a regular basis with our current client base and potential clients by telling each brand’s story through aspirational national and regional advertising, as well as through compelling direct mail marketing and in-store presentation. Marketing expenditures as a percentage of net sales were 3.7% in Fiscal 2014, 4.4% in Fiscal 2013 and 4.1% in Fiscal 2012.
Client Relationship Management
We have a credit card program that offers eligible clients in the U.S. the choice of a private label or co-branded credit card. Both cards can be used at any Ann Taylor, LOFT or Lou & Grey location or channel of distribution, including Ann Taylor Factory, LOFT Outlet and our Websites. The co-branded credit card can also be used at any other business where the card is accepted. Both the private label and co-branded credit cards are offered in an Ann Taylor and LOFT version, depending upon where a client enrolls in the program; however, the core benefits offered to clients are the same for both. All new cardmembers are automatically enrolled in our exclusive rewards program, which is designed to recognize and promote client loyalty.
To encourage clients to apply for a credit card, we provide a discount to approved cardmembers on all purchases made with a new card on the day of application acceptance. Rewards points are earned on purchases made with the credit card at any of our brands or channels of distribution. Co-branded cardmembers also earn points on purchases made at other businesses where our card is accepted. Cardmembers who accumulate the requisite number of points are issued a Rewards Card redeemable toward a future purchase.
We are focused on building on our client service through a client relationship management initiative designed to deliver a more personalized and relevant shopping experience for our clients. We are increasingly engaging clients through more targeted and personalized outreach, both at our full-price and outlet channels, to provide an optimal omni-channel shopping experience, establish stronger relationships and further enhance the efficiency of our marketing programs.
Information Systems
We recognize the importance of ongoing investment in information services and technology and continually enhance the systems we use to support our Websites and omni-channel capabilities, as well as our international expansion, merchandise procurement, inventory management and order fulfillment processes. These enhancements are generally aimed at optimizing the client experience, driving sales, improving client access to merchandise and back-office efficiencies. During Fiscal 2014, we launched enhanced mobile capabilities to our Websites and initiated Phase 2 of our omni-channel “endless aisle” capabilities in select Ann Taylor and LOFT stores, thereby providing clients access to online merchandise from the store environment.



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Trademarks, Domain Names and Service Marks
The “ANN TAYLOR®,” “LOFT®,” “ANN TAYLOR LOFT®” and other proprietary marks are registered with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and with the trademark registries of many foreign countries. Our rights in these marks are a significant part of our business strategy, as we believe they are famous and well-known in the women’s apparel industry. Accordingly, we intend to maintain our trademarks and related registrations and vigorously protect them against infringement.
Competition
The women’s retail apparel industry is highly competitive. We compete with certain departments in international, national and local department stores and with other specialty retail stores, catalog and Internet businesses that offer similar categories of merchandise. We believe that our focused fashion point of view, product versatility and strong client service distinguish us from other women’s apparel retailers. Our competitors range from smaller, growing companies to considerably larger players with substantially greater financial, marketing and other resources. While we are vigilant to maintain our competitiveness, there is, of course, no assurance that we will be able to compete successfully with them in the future. See “Risk Factors.”
Associate Relations
As of January 31, 2015, we had approximately 18,800 employees, of which approximately 1,950 were full-time salaried employees, 2,300 were full-time hourly employees and 14,550 were part-time hourly employees working less than 30 hours per week. None of our employees are represented by a labor union. We believe that our relationship with our employees is good.
Responsibly ANN
We are committed to operating our business responsibly and thoughtfully, and continue to set high standards and forge strong partnerships with our suppliers to ensure that our products are made in a socially and environmentally responsible manner. In addition, we try to make meaningful contributions to our communities and seek to minimize our impact on the environment by investing in new programs and innovations. Our brands reflect our passion for playing an active role in making the world a better place and we take pride in supporting causes that are important to our clients and our associates.
Available Information
We make available free of charge on our website, http://investor.anninc.com, copies of our annual report on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K and any amendments to those reports filed or furnished pursuant to Sections 13(a) or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, as soon as reasonably practicable after such reports are filed electronically with, or otherwise furnished to, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Copies of the charters of each of our Audit Committee, Compensation Committee and Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee, as well as our Corporate Governance Guidelines and Business Conduct Guidelines, are also available on our website.

ITEM 1A.
Risk Factors.
Set forth below is a summary of the material risks to an investment in our securities, which should be considered carefully in evaluating such an investment. These are not the only risks our Company faces. We may also be adversely affected by additional risks not presently known to us or that we currently deem immaterial. If any of the risks were to materialize, our business, results of operations, cash flows or financial condition may be materially adversely impacted , which might cause the value of our securities to decline. Please also see “Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Disclosures” in the section immediately preceding Item 1 of this Report.
Our ability to anticipate and respond to changing client preferences and fashion trends in a timely manner
Our success largely depends on our ability to consistently gauge fashion trends and provide a balanced assortment of merchandise that satisfies client demands for each of our brands in a timely manner. Any missteps may affect inventory levels, since we enter into agreements to manufacture and purchase our merchandise well in advance of the applicable selling season. Our failure to anticipate, identify or react appropriately in a timely manner to changes in client preferences, fashion trends and economic conditions could lead to, among other things, missed opportunities, excess inventory and more frequent markdowns or inventory shortages, all of which could negatively impact sales and gross margin performance and have a material adverse effect on our business and results of operations. Merchandise missteps could also negatively impact our image with our clients and result in diminished brand loyalty.



8

Our ability to maintain our brand image, engage new and existing clients and gain market share
Our ability to maintain our brand image and reputation is integral to our business as well as the implementation of strategies to expand it. Maintaining, promoting and growing our brands will depend largely on the success of our design, merchandising and marketing efforts and our ability to provide a consistent, high-quality client experience. In addition, while our brands are mature and we have extensive client lists, our success depends, in part, on our ability to keep existing clients engaged and attract new clients to shop our brands. Our business and results of operations could be adversely affected if we fail to achieve these objectives for either or both of our brands and failure to achieve consistent, positive performance at both of our brands simultaneously could have an adverse effect on our sales and profitability. In addition, our ability to address the challenges of declining store traffic, including at factory outlet centers, in a highly promotional, low growth environment may impact our ability to maintain and gain market share and also impact our sales and profitability.
The effect of competitive pressures from other retailers as well as structural headwinds in the specialty retail sector
The women's specialty retail industry is highly competitive. We compete with local, national and international department stores, specialty and discount stores, catalogs and internet businesses offering similar categories of merchandise. We face a variety of competitive challenges, including anticipating and quickly responding to changing client demands or preferences, maintaining favorable brand recognition and effectively marketing our products to our clients in several diverse demographic markets, sourcing merchandise efficiently and developing innovative, high-quality merchandise in styles that appeal to our clients in ways that favorably distinguish us from our competitors. In addition, many of our competitors have advantages over us, including substantially greater financial, marketing and other resources. Increased levels of promotional activity by our competitors, some of whom may be able to adopt more aggressive pricing policies than we can, both online and in stores, may negatively impact our sales and profitability. There is no assurance that we can compete successfully with these companies in the future. In addition to competing for sales, we compete for favorable store locations, lease terms and qualified associates. Increased competition in these areas may result in higher costs and reduce our operating margins, which could adversely affect our business and results of operations.
In addition, structural headwinds in the specialty retail sector are particularly challenging. The growth of fast fashion and value fashion retailers and expansion of off-price retailers has shifted shopper expectations to more affordable pricing of well-known brands and exacerbated the continued promotional pressure. The rise of these retailers as well as the shift in shopping preferences from brick-and-mortar stores to the online channel, where online only businesses or those with e-commerce capabilities continue to grow, have increased the difficulty of maintaining and gaining market share. A downturn or an uncertain outlook in the women’s specialty retail sector in which we sell our products could materially adversely affect our business and results of operations.
Our reliance on key management and our ability to attract and retain qualified associates as well as ensure that we have the appropriate organizational structure and processes in place to achieve our strategic initiatives
Our success depends to a significant extent upon both the continued services of our current executive and senior management team, as well as our ability to attract, hire, motivate and retain qualified management talent in the future. Our senior executive officers have substantial experience and expertise in the retail business and have made significant contributions to the growth and success of our brands. Competition for key executives in the retail industry is intense and our operations could be adversely affected if we cannot retain our key executives or fail to attract additional qualified individuals. Our performance also depends in large part on the talents and contributions of engaged and skilled associates in all areas of our organization. If we are unable to identify, hire, develop, motivate and retain talented individuals, we may be unable to compete effectively and our business and results of operations could be adversely impacted.
In addition, as our business continues to evolve, we must ensure that we have the appropriate organizational structure and processes in place to achieve our strategic initiatives. If we are unable to accomplish these objectives, our business and results of operations could be adversely impacted.
Our reliance on third-party manufacturers and key vendors
We do not own or operate any manufacturing facilities, and therefore, depend on independent third parties to manufacture our merchandise. As such, we face the risk of increased manufacturing costs and cannot be certain that we will not experience operational difficulties with our manufacturers, such as reductions in speed, production capacity and flexibility; errors in complying with merchandise specifications; insufficient quality control; and failure to meet production deadlines. In addition, we source our merchandise from a select group of manufacturers and continue to strengthen our relationships with these key vendors. While this strategy has benefits, it also has risks. If one or more of our key vendors were to cease working with us, the flow of merchandise could be impacted. In addition, we cannot predict the impact of world-wide events, including inclement weather, natural disasters, public health issues, strikes, or political or economic conditions on our major suppliers. Our suppliers could also face economic pressures as a result of rising wages and inflation or experience difficulty obtaining adequate credit or access to liquidity to finance

9

their operations, which could lead to vendor consolidation. While we have contingency plans for such potential risks, a manufacturer’s failure to continue working with us, ship merchandise to us on a timely basis or meet our product safety, quality and social compliance standards could cause supply shortages, failure to meet client expectations and damage to our brands, which could have a material adverse effect on our sales and results of operations.
Our dependence on our Louisville distribution center and third-party distribution and transportation providers
Our wholly-owned and operated primary distribution center in Louisville, Kentucky manages the receipt, storage, sorting, packing and distribution of the majority of merchandise to our stores. We also utilize third-party distribution facilities in City of Industry, California and Toronto, Canada for distribution support to our stores. In addition, sales at our Websites are primarily processed by a third-party fulfillment provider with facilities in Bolingbrook, Illinois. Independent third-party transportation companies then deliver merchandise from these facilities to our stores and/or our clients. Any significant interruption in the operation of our Louisville distribution center, our third-party distribution, fulfillment or transportation providers or the various ports through which our merchandise enters the U.S., for any reason, including natural disasters, accidents, inclement weather, system failures, work stoppages, slowdowns or strikes or other unforeseen events and circumstances, could delay or impair our ability to distribute merchandise to our stores and/or our clients. This could lead to inventory issues, increased costs, lower sales and a loss of loyalty to our brands, among other things, which could adversely affect our business and results of operations.
Our reliance on foreign sources of production
We purchase a significant portion of our merchandise from foreign suppliers. As a result, we are subject to various risks of doing business in foreign markets and importing merchandise from abroad, such as:
•
fluctuation in the value of the U.S. dollar against foreign currencies or restrictions on the transfer of funds to and from foreign countries;
•
foreign laws and regulations;
•
imposition of additional legislation or agreements relating to import quotas or other restrictions that may limit the quantity of our merchandise that may be imported into the U.S. or Canada from countries in regions where our merchandise is manufactured;
•
significant delays or disruptions in the delivery of cargo due to port security or congestion issues, labor disputes or shortages, local business practices, vendor compliance with applicable import regulations or weather conditions;
•
imposition of duties, taxes and other charges on imports or exports;
•
imposition of anti-dumping or countervailing duties in response to an investigation as to whether a particular product being sold in the U.S. or Canada at less than fair value may cause (or threaten to cause) material injury to the relevant domestic industry;
•
financial or political instability or terrorist acts in any of the countries in which our merchandise is manufactured or the transportation channels through which it passes;
•
the impact of natural disasters, extreme weather, public health concerns or other catastrophes on our foreign sourcing offices and vendor manufacturing operations;
•
potential cancellation of orders or recalls of any merchandise that does not meet our product safety and quality standards or is not manufactured in accordance with our social compliance requirements; and
•
increased security requirements applicable to imported goods and increased inspections of import shipments by domestic authorities.
Any sudden disruptions in the manufacture or import of our merchandise caused by adverse changes in these or any other factors could increase the cost or reduce the supply of merchandise available to us and adversely affect our reputation, business, financial condition, results of operations and liquidity.
The effect of fluctuations in sourcing costs
The raw materials used to manufacture our merchandise are subject to availability constraints and price volatility caused by high or low demand for fabrics, labor conditions, transportation or freight costs, currency fluctuations, weather conditions, supply conditions, government regulations, inflation, market speculation and economic, climate and other unpredictable factors. We take steps to mitigate sourcing pressures from fluctuating raw material costs by making advance commitments on key core fabrics when required, leveraging our strong vendor relationships and using country sourcing flexibility. Despite these measures, an increase in the demand for, the price of and/or a decrease in the availability of the raw materials used to manufacture our merchandise could have a material adverse effect on our cost of sales or our ability to meet our clients’ expectations. Additionally, increases in labor costs, as well as a shortage of skilled labor in certain areas of China, may also impact our sourcing costs. The cost of transportation has also been increasing, and these cost pressures are likely to persist. We may not be able to pass all or a portion of such higher sourcing costs onto our clients, which could negatively impact our profitability.


10

The impact of a privacy breach and the resulting effect on our business and reputation
We rely heavily on digital technologies for the successful operation of our business, including electronic messaging, digital marketing efforts and the collection and retention of client data and associate information. We also rely on other third parties to process credit card transactions, perform online e-commerce and social media activities and retain data relating to our financial position and results of operations, strategic initiatives and other important information. Despite the robust security measures we have in place, our facilities and systems, and those of our third-party service providers, may be vulnerable to cyber-security breaches, acts of vandalism, computer viruses, misplaced or lost data, programming and/or human errors or other similar events. Any actual or perceived misappropriation, loss or other unauthorized disclosure of confidential or personally identifiable information, whether by us or by our third-party service providers, could severely damage our reputation and our relationship with our clients, associates and investors as well as expose us to risks of litigation, liability or other penalties and materially adversely affect our business and results of operations.
In addition, we may incur significant remediation costs in the event of a cyber-security breach or incident, including liability for stolen client or associate information, repairing system damage or providing credit monitoring or other benefits to affected clients or associates. We may also incur increased costs to comply with various applicable laws or industry standards regarding use and/or unauthorized disclosure of personal information. These and other cyber-security-related compliance, prevention and remediation costs may also adversely impact our financial condition and results of operations. In addition, although we maintain cyber-security insurance, there can be no assurance that our insurance coverage will be sufficient, or that insurance proceeds will be paid to us in a timely manner.
Our ability to manage inventory levels and changes in merchandise mix as well as optimize the operational aspects of our omni-channel fulfillment strategy
The long lead times required for a substantial portion of our merchandise make client demand difficult to predict and responding quickly to changes challenging. Though we have the ability to source certain product categories with shorter lead times, we enter into contracts for a substantial portion of our merchandise well in advance of the applicable selling season. Our financial condition could be materially adversely affected if we are unable to manage inventory levels and respond to short-term shifts in client demand patterns. Inventory levels in excess of client demand may result in excessive markdowns and, therefore, lower than planned sales and gross margin. On the other hand, if we underestimate demand for our merchandise, we may experience inventory shortages resulting in missed sales and lost revenues. Either of these events could significantly affect our operating results and brand image and loyalty. Our margins may also be impacted by changes in our merchandise mix and a shift toward merchandise with lower selling prices. These changes could have a material adverse effect on our business and results of operations.
In addition, our omni-channel fulfillment strategy, which aims to help optimize the client experience, improve merchandising decisions and support our omni-channel operations, creates additional complexities in our ability to manage inventory levels, as well as certain operational issues in stores and online, including packaging, shipping, timeliness and returns. Accordingly, our success depends to a large degree on continually evolving the processes and technology that enable us to plan and manage inventory levels and fulfill orders, address any related operational issues in store and online and further align both channels to optimize our omni-channel retail strategy. If we are unable to successfully manage the inventory complexities and operational issues associated with our omni-channel fulfillment strategy, we may experience an adverse impact on our business and results of operations.
Our ability to successfully optimize implementation of our omni-channel retail strategy and maintain a relevant and reliable omni-channel experience for our clients
We are committed to growing our business through our omni-channel retail strategy. Our goal is to offer our clients seamless access to our brands and merchandise whenever and wherever they choose to shop. Accordingly, our success also depends on our ability to anticipate and implement innovations in sales and marketing strategies to appeal to existing and potential clients who increasingly rely on multiple portals, including mobile technologies, to meet their shopping needs. Failure to enhance our technology and marketing efforts to align with our clients’ shopping preferences could significantly impair our ability to meet our strategic business and financial goals. If we do not successfully optimize the implementation of our omni-channel retail strategy or if it does not achieve its intended objectives, we may experience an adverse impact on our business and results of operations.
Our ability to execute brand extensions and other growth strategies, including international expansion
In order to achieve long-term growth, part of our business strategy is to grow our existing brands and identify and develop new growth opportunities, including potential acquisitions. The launch of new merchandise offerings or concepts, such as Lou & Grey, or the addition of new businesses may require significant capital expenditures and management oversight. Any such plans are subject to risks, such as the lack of client acceptance, failure to differentiate products, competition and/or failure to successfully integrate operations and personnel or achieve the anticipated benefits of acquisitions. There is no assurance that these strategies

11

will be successful or that our overall profitability will increase as a result. In addition, if we fail to properly execute our plans or identify alternative strategies, it could have a material adverse effect on our business and results of operations.
Our growth strategy may also continue to include plans to develop new strategic partnerships as well as further expand our presence in both new and existing markets, including international markets. We have very limited experience operating outside of the U.S. or through alternative business models, such as franchises. International markets also present unique risks, including different operational characteristics in the areas of employment and labor, transportation, logistics, real estate, finance and law. Furthermore, consumer demand and behavior, as well as preferences and purchasing trends, may differ. Other challenges may include facing established competitors, as well as general economic conditions in specific countries or markets, disruptions or delays in shipments, changes in diplomatic and trade relationships, political instability and foreign governmental regulation. As a result of these and other factors, our efforts to enter foreign markets may not be successful, or the sales and profitability generated by our foreign operations may not be in line with our expectations. In addition, international expansion, including any difficulties that we may encounter if we were to expand to other international markets, may divert financial, operational and managerial resources from our existing operations and/or result in increased costs, which could adversely impact our financial condition and results of operations.
Further, as we continue to implement our plans for international expansion, we are subject to certain U.S. laws, including the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, as well as the laws of the foreign countries in which we operate. We must use all commercially reasonable efforts to ensure compliance with these laws. Any violations of such laws could subject us to sanctions or other penalties, which could negatively affect our reputation, business and results of operations.
Our ability to successfully manage our Internet business and deliver an integrated omni-channel shopping experience to our clients
Our Internet business is a key component of our omni-channel retail strategy and subject to numerous risks, including:
•
the failure to successfully implement new systems, system enhancements and Internet platforms, including our omni-channel and online international order fulfillment and enhanced mobile capability;
•
the failure of our technology infrastructure or the computer systems that operate our websites and their related support systems, causing, among other things, website downtimes, telecommunications issues or other technical failures;
•
the reliance on third-party computer hardware/software providers;
•
rapid technological change;
•
liability for online content;
•
violations of federal, state, foreign or other applicable laws, including those relating to online privacy;
•
credit card fraud;
•
vulnerability to electronic break-ins and other similar disruptions; and
•
moderating Internet sales growth.
Our failure to successfully address and respond to these risks could negatively impact sales, increase costs and damage the reputation of our brands.
Our ability to successfully upgrade and maintain our information systems in a timely and secure manner to support the needs of the organization
We rely heavily on information systems to manage our operations, including a full range of retail, financial, sourcing and merchandising systems. We regularly make investments to upgrade, enhance or replace these systems, as well as leverage new technologies to support our growth strategies. We have also implemented enterprise-wide initiatives that are intended to standardize business processes and optimize performance. Any delays or difficulties transitioning to new systems or integrating them with current systems or the failure to implement our initiatives in an orderly and timely fashion could result in additional investment of time and resources, which could impair our ability to improve existing operations and support future growth.
In addition, the reliability and capacity of our information systems are critical. Despite preventative efforts, our systems are vulnerable from time-to-time to damage or interruption from, among other things, natural disasters, technical malfunctions, inadequate systems capacity, human error, power outages, computer viruses and security breaches. Failure to maintain adequate system security controls to protect our computer assets and sensitive data, including associate and client data, from unauthorized access, disclosure or use could damage our reputation with our associates and our clients and expose us to risks of litigation and liability. Finally, our ability to continue to operate our business without significant interruption in the event of a disaster or other disruption depends, in part, on the ability of our information systems to operate in accordance with our disaster recovery and business continuity plans. Any disruptions affecting our information systems could have a material adverse effect on our business and results of operations.
As a component of our ongoing strategy to increase efficiencies, monitor costs and improve our information technology capabilities, we rely on third parties for products and implementation and/or management of certain aspects of our information

12

systems and infrastructure. Many of the functions that are performed by third parties are performed in offshore locations. Our agreements with those third parties require them to maintain certain levels of care and security with respect to our information systems and our data. Failure by any of these third parties to implement and/or manage our information systems and infrastructure effectively and securely could disrupt our operations, adversely affect our clients’ shopping experience and negatively impact our profitability. Furthermore, the use of offshore service providers may expose us to risks related to local political, economic, social or environmental conditions (including acts of terrorism, the outbreak of war or the occurrence of natural disasters), restrictive actions by foreign governments or changes in U.S. laws and regulations.
Our ability to secure and protect trademarks and other intellectual property rights
We believe that our trademarks and other intellectual property rights are critical to our success. Even though we register and defend our trademarks and other intellectual property rights, there is no assurance that our actions will protect us from the prior registration by others or prevent others from infringing our trademarks and intellectual property rights or seeking to block sales of our products as infringements of their trademarks and intellectual property rights. Further, the laws of foreign countries may not protect intellectual property rights to the same extent as do the laws of the U.S. Because we have not registered without opposition all of our trademarks in all categories, or in all foreign countries in which we currently manufacture merchandise or may manufacture or sell merchandise in the future, our ability to source merchandise from international suppliers or pursue international expansion could be negatively impacted. Any litigation regarding our trademarks could be time-consuming and costly. Moreover, if we are not successful, the loss of exclusive use of our trademarks and other proprietary rights could have a material adverse effect on our business and results of operations.
Failure to comply with legal and regulatory requirements
Our business is subject to legal and regulatory requirements in the U.S. and abroad, including, without limitation, those required by the SEC, the New York Stock Exchange and the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, as well as securities, tax, environmental, health care, privacy, employment and anti-bribery laws and regulations. In addition, in the future, there may be new legal or regulatory requirements or more stringent interpretations of applicable requirements, which could increase the complexity of the regulatory environment in which we operate and the related cost of compliance.
While it is our policy and practice to comply with all legal and regulatory requirements and our procedures and internal controls are designed to ensure such compliance, we are involved from time to time in litigation arising primarily in the ordinary course of business. Litigation matters may include, among other things, employment, commercial, intellectual property, advertising or shareholder claims. A finding that we or our vendors or agents are out of compliance with applicable laws and regulations could subject us to civil remedies or criminal sanctions, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, reputation and stock price. In addition, even the claim of a violation of applicable laws or regulations could negatively affect our reputation. We believe that our current litigation matters will not have a material adverse effect on our consolidated results of operations or financial condition. However, our assessment of current litigation could change in light of the discovery of facts with respect to legal actions pending against us, not presently known to us, or determinations by judges, juries or other finders of fact which do not accord with our evaluation of the possible liability or outcome of such litigation as well as additional litigation that is not currently pending.
The effect of general economic conditions
Our financial performance is dependent on consumer confidence and levels of consumer spending, which may remain volatile for the foreseeable future. Some of the factors impacting consumer confidence and discretionary consumer spending include, but are not limited to: general economic conditions; fiscal and monetary policies of governments; wages and unemployment; consumer debt; reductions in net worth based on market declines or declines in the residential real estate and mortgage markets; tax policies; increases in fuel and energy prices; changes in interest rates; the threat of or actual terrorist attacks; military conflicts and the domestic and international political environment. Consumer purchases of discretionary items, including our merchandise, generally decline during recessionary periods and other periods where disposable income is adversely affected. A downturn in the economy could affect consumer purchases of our merchandise and lead to excess inventory levels, which could materially adversely affect our liquidity, capital resources, results of operations and continued growth.
In addition, as a result of general unpredictability in the global financial markets, there can be no assurance that our liquidity will not be affected or that our capital resources will at all times be sufficient to satisfy our liquidity needs. Although we believe that our existing cash, cash provided by operations and available borrowing capacity under our revolving credit facility will be adequate to satisfy our capital needs for the foreseeable future, any tightening of the credit markets could make it more difficult for us to access funds, enter into agreements for new indebtedness or obtain funding through the issuance of our securities. Our revolving credit facility also has financial covenants and certain restrictions which, if not met, may further impede our ability to access funds.

13

We also have significant amounts of cash on deposit at FDIC-insured financial institutions that are currently in excess of federally insured limits and therefore, we cannot be assured that we will not experience losses with respect to cash on deposit in excess of such limits.
Our ability to successfully manage store growth and optimize the productivity and profitability of our store portfolio
Our continued growth and success depend, in part, on our ability to successfully open and operate new stores, enhance and remodel existing stores on a timely and profitable basis and optimize overall store performance by closing under-performing stores. Accomplishing our store expansion goals depends upon a number of factors, including locating suitable sites and negotiating favorable lease terms. We must also be able to effectively renew and renegotiate lease terms for existing stores. Managing the profitability of our stores and optimizing store productivity also depends, in large part, on the continued success and client acceptance of our store formats, maintenance of the appropriate fleet size relative to brick and mortar sales and our ability to achieve planned store growth for our brands in Fiscal 2015 and beyond. Hiring and training qualified associates, particularly at the store management level, maintaining overall good relations with our associates and vendors and managing inventory and distribution effectively to meet the needs of new and existing clients on a timely basis are also important to our store operations. There is no assurance that we will achieve our store expansion goals, manage our growth effectively or operate our stores profitably. In addition, the challenges of declining store traffic and the inability to achieve acceptable results in new and existing stores could lead to store closures and/or asset impairment charges, which could adversely affect our results of operations and impact our future growth.
Our dependence on shopping malls and other retail centers to attract clients to our stores and ability to negotiate acceptable lease terms
Many of our stores are located in shopping malls and other retail centers that benefit from the ability of “anchor” retail tenants, generally large department stores, and other attractions, to generate sufficient levels of consumer traffic in the vicinity of our stores. Any decline in the volume of consumer traffic at shopping centers, whether because of the economic slowdown, a decline in the popularity of shopping centers, the closing of anchor stores or otherwise, could result in reduced sales at our stores and excess inventory. We may have to respond by increasing markdowns or initiating marketing promotions to reduce excess inventory, which could have a material adverse effect on our business and results of operations.
In addition, continued consolidation in the commercial retail real estate market could affect our ability to successfully negotiate favorable rental terms for our stores in the future. Should significant consolidation continue, a large proportion of our store base could be concentrated with one or a few entities that could then be in a position to dictate unfavorable terms to us due to their significant negotiating leverage. If we are unable to negotiate favorable lease terms with these entities, this could affect our ability to profitably operate our stores, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Manufacturer compliance with our social compliance program requirements
We require our independent manufacturers to comply with all applicable laws and regulations, as well as our Global Supplier Principles and Guidelines, which cover many areas, including labor, health, safety, environmental and other legal standards. We monitor compliance with these Guidelines using third-party monitoring firms. Although we have an active program to provide training for our independent manufacturers and monitor their compliance with these standards, we do not control the manufacturers or their practices. Any failure of our independent manufacturers to comply with our Global Supplier Principles and Guidelines or labor or other local laws in the country of manufacture, or the divergence of an independent manufacturer’s labor practices from those generally accepted as ethical in the U.S., could disrupt the shipment of merchandise to our stores, force us to locate alternative manufacturing sources, reduce demand for our merchandise, damage our reputation and/or expose us to potential liability for their wrongdoings. Any of these events could have a material adverse effect on our reputation, business and results of operations.
The impact of fluctuations in sales and profitability on our stock price
A variety of factors has historically affected, and will continue to affect, our comparable sales results and profit margins. These factors include fashion trends and client preferences, changes in our merchandise mix, competition, economic conditions, extreme or unseasonable weather, effective inventory management and new store openings, among other things. There is no assurance that we will achieve positive levels of sales and earnings growth and any decline in our future growth or performance could have a material adverse effect on the market price of our common stock.
Our stock price has experienced, and could continue to experience in the future, substantial volatility as a result of many factors, including actual or anticipated financial results, global economic conditions, broad market fluctuations, our operating performance and public perception of the prospects for our brands or for the women’s apparel industry in general. Failure to meet market expectations, particularly with respect to sales, operating margins, net income and earnings per share, could result in a decline in the market value of our stock.


14

Effects of natural disasters, war, terrorism, public health concerns or other catastrophes
Natural disasters, extreme weather and public health concerns, including severe infectious diseases, could impact our ability to open and run our corporate offices, distribution center, stores and other operations in affected areas and/or negatively impact our foreign sourcing offices and the operations of our vendors. In addition, our ability to continue to operate our business without significant disruption in the event of a disaster or other event depends, in part, on the ability of our information systems to operate in accordance with our disaster recovery and business continuity plans. Lower client traffic due to the effect of natural disasters or extreme weather, security concerns, war or the threat of war and public health concerns could result in decreased sales that could have a material adverse impact on our business, financial condition and results of operations. In addition, both the threat of or actual terrorist events in the U.S. and world-wide could cause damage or disruption to international commerce and the global economy, disrupt the production, shipment or receipt of our merchandise or lead to lower client traffic. Our ability to mitigate the adverse impact of these events depends, in part, upon the effectiveness of our disaster preparedness and response planning as well as business continuity planning. However, we cannot be certain that our plans will be adequate or implemented properly in the event of an actual disaster or other catastrophic situation. In addition, although we maintain business interruption and property insurance, there can be no assurance that our insurance coverage will be sufficient, or that insurance proceeds will be timely paid to us.
The effect of tax matters on our business operations
We are subject to income taxes in the U.S. and certain foreign jurisdictions. In addition, our products are subject to import and excise duties and/or sales or value-added taxes in certain jurisdictions. We are also subject to the examination of our income tax returns by the Internal Revenue Service and other domestic, international and local tax authorities and government bodies. We regularly assess the likelihood of an adverse outcome resulting from these examinations to determine the adequacy of our provision for income taxes, however, there can be no assurance as to the outcome of these examinations. Any changes in tax rates, tax legislation or regulations, and/or tax accounting rules and regulations or interpretations thereof or an adverse outcome related to a tax examination could have a material impact on our results of operations, financial condition and cash flows in future periods.
ITEM 1B.
Unresolved Staff Comments.
None.


15

ITEM 2.
Properties.
As of January 31, 2015, we operated 1,030 retail stores in 47 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and Canada, all of which were leased. Store leases, most of which are non-cancelable, typically provide for initial terms of 10 years, although some leases have shorter or longer initial periods. Many of our store leases grant us the right to extend the term for one or two additional five-year periods and also contain early termination options, which can be exercised by us under specific conditions. Most store leases require us to pay a specified minimum rent, plus a contingent rent based on a percentage of the store’s net sales in excess of a specified threshold. In addition, most of the leases require us to pay real estate taxes, insurance and certain common area and maintenance costs. The current terms of our leases expire as follows:
Fiscal Years Lease
Terms Expire
 
Number of
Stores
2015 - 2017
 
451

2018 - 2020
 
206

2021 - 2023
 
311

2024 and later
 
62

We lease our corporate offices at 7 Times Square in New York City (approximately 308,000 square feet) under a lease expiring in 2020. In addition, we maintain 42,000 square feet of office space in Milford, Connecticut, under a lease that expires in 2019. Both of these leases grant us the right to extend the term for two additional five-year periods.
The Company’s wholly-owned subsidiary, AnnTaylor Distribution Services, Inc., owns our 256,000 square foot distribution center located in Louisville, Kentucky. The distribution center is located on approximately 29 acres, which could accommodate possible future expansion of the facility. The majority of our merchandise is distributed to stores through this facility.
ITEM 3.
Legal Proceedings.
We are subject to various legal proceedings and claims that arise in the ordinary course of our business. Although the amount of any liability that could arise with respect to these actions cannot be determined with certainty, in our opinion, any such liability will not have a material adverse effect on our consolidated financial position, consolidated results of operations or liquidity.
 
ITEM 4.
Mine Safety Disclosures.
Not applicable.


16

PART II
 
ITEM 5.
Market for the Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities.

Our common stock is listed and traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “ANN.” The number of holders of record of common stock at February 27, 2015 was 1,875. The following table sets forth the high and low sale prices per share of our common stock on the New York Stock Exchange for the periods indicated:
 
Market Price
 
High
 
Low
Fiscal Year 2014
 
 
 
Fourth quarter
$
39.22

 
$
31.69

Third quarter
42.96

 
34.23

Second quarter
42.01

 
36.31

First quarter
43.61

 
30.71

Fiscal Year 2013
 
 
 
Fourth quarter
$
39.13

 
$
31.63

Third quarter
37.03

 
31.40

Second quarter
35.00

 
28.66

First quarter
32.80

 
26.95


STOCK PERFORMANCE GRAPH
The following graph compares the percentage changes in the cumulative total stockholder return on the Company’s Common Stock for the five-year period ended January 31, 2015, with the cumulative total return on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Stock Index (“S&P 500”) and the Dow Jones U.S. Apparel Retailers Index for the same period. In accordance with the rules of the Securities and Exchange Commission, the returns are indexed to a value of $100 at January 31, 2010 and assume that all dividends, if any, were reinvested. This performance graph shall not be deemed “filed” for purposes of Section 18 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), or otherwise subject to the liabilities under that Section, and shall not be deemed to be incorporated by reference into any filing of the Company under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Exchange Act.



17

We have never paid cash dividends on our common stock. Any determination to pay cash dividends is at the discretion of our Board of Directors, which considers it on a periodic basis. In addition, as a holding company, our ability to pay dividends is dependent upon the receipt of dividends or other payments from our subsidiaries, including our wholly-owned subsidiary AnnTaylor, Inc. The payment of dividends by AnnTaylor, Inc. to us is subject to certain restrictions under our Credit Facility. We are also subject to certain restrictions contained in the Credit Facility on the payment of cash dividends on our common stock. See “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations - Liquidity and Capital Resources.”
The following table sets forth information concerning purchases of our common stock for the periods indicated, which upon repurchase, are classified as treasury shares available for general corporate purposes:
 
Total
Number
of Shares
Purchased
 
Average
Price Paid
Per Share
 
Total
Number of
Shares
Purchased
as Part
of Publicly
Announced
Program (1)
 
Approximate
Dollar  Value
of Shares
that May  Yet
Be Purchased
Under  Publicly
Announced
Program
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
(in thousands)
November 2, 2014 to November 29, 2014
—

 
$
—

 
—

 
$
200,000

November 30, 2014 to January 3, 2015
—

 
—

 
—

 
200,000

January 4, 2015 to January 31, 2015
—

 
—

 
—

 
200,000

 
—

 
 
 
—

 
 
 

(1)
On August 21, 2013, our Board of Directors approved a $250 million securities repurchase program (the “Repurchase Program”). The Repurchase Program will expire when we have repurchased all securities authorized for repurchase thereunder, unless terminated earlier by our Board of Directors. There were no repurchases made under the Repurchase Program during the fourth quarter of Fiscal 2014. As of January 31, 2015 and March 13, 2015, the date of this Report, $200 million remained available for share repurchases under the Repurchase Program.
The information called for by this item relating to “Securities Authorized for Issuance under Equity Compensation Plans” is provided in Part III, Item 12.

18

ITEM 6.
Selected Financial Data.
The following historical Consolidated Statements of Operations and Consolidated Balance Sheet information has been derived from our audited consolidated financial statements. The information set forth below should be read in conjunction with “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and the consolidated financial statements and notes thereto included elsewhere in this document. All references to years are to our fiscal year, which ends on the Saturday nearest January 31 in the following calendar year. All fiscal years for which financial information is set forth below contain 52 weeks, except for the fiscal year ended February 2, 2013, which includes 53 weeks.
 
 
Fiscal Year Ended
 
 
January 31, 2015
 
February 1, 2014
 
February 2, 2013
 
January 28, 2012
 
January 29, 2011
 
 
(in thousands, except earnings per share and store count information)
Consolidated Statements of Operations:
 
 
 
 
 
 
Net sales
 
$
2,533,460

 
$
2,493,491

 
$
2,375,509

 
$
2,212,493

 
$
1,980,195

Cost of sales
 
1,242,506

 
1,150,183

 
1,073,167

 
1,004,350

 
876,201

Gross margin
 
1,290,954

 
1,343,308

 
1,302,342

 
1,208,143

 
1,103,994

Selling, general and administrative expenses
 
1,161,838

 
1,173,234

 
1,135,551

 
1,062,644

 
978,580

Restructuring charge
 
17,303

 
—

 
—

 
—

 
5,624

Operating income
 
111,813

 
170,074

 
166,791

 
145,499

 
119,790

Interest and investment income/(expense), net
 
(363
)
 
(94
)
 
1,051

 
(1,052
)
 
(668
)
Other non-operating expense, net (1)
 
(835
)
 
(17
)
 
(189
)
 
—

 
—

Income before income taxes
 
110,615

 
169,963

 
167,653

 
144,447

 
119,122

Income tax provision
 
42,635

 
67,533

 
65,068

 
57,881

 
45,725

Net income
 
$
67,980

 
$
102,430

 
$
102,585

 
$
86,566

 
$
73,397

Basic earnings per share
 
$
1.47

 
$
2.21

 
$
2.13

 
$
1.66

 
$
1.26

Diluted earnings per share
 
$
1.46

 
$
2.19

 
$
2.10

 
$
1.64

 
$
1.24

Weighted average shares outstanding
 
45,172

 
45,490

 
47,494

 
51,200

 
57,203

Weighted average shares outstanding, assuming dilution
 
45,608

 
45,955

 
48,094

 
52,029

 
58,110

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Consolidated Operating Information:
 
 
 
 
 
 
Percentage increase/(decrease) in comparable sales (2)
 
(1.9
)%
 
2.3
%
 
3.3
%
 
6.8
%
 
10.7
%
Number of Company-operated stores:
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Open at beginning of period
 
1,025

 
984

 
953

 
896

 
907

Opened during the period
 
50

 
66

 
63

 
76

 
24

Closed during the period
 
(45
)
 
(25
)
 
(32
)
 
(19
)
 
(35
)
Open at the end of the period
 
1,030

 
1,025

 
984

 
953

 
896

Total store square footage at end of period
 
5,834

 
5,873

 
5,685

 
5,584

 
5,284

International franchise stores open at end of period
 
3

 
—

 
—

 
—

 
—

Capital expenditures (3)
 
$
99,485

 
$
145,065

 
$
149,737

 
$
124,448

 
$
64,367

Depreciation and amortization
 
$
111,131

 
$
106,588

 
$
97,829

 
$
94,187

 
$
95,523

Working capital turnover (4)
 
10.1
x
 
12.4
x
 
13.2
x
 
9.7
x
 
8.0
x
Inventory turnover (5)
 
4.9
x
 
5.0
x
 
5.0
x
 
4.9
x
 
4.8
x
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Consolidated Balance Sheet Information:
 
 
 
 
 
 
Working capital
 
$
269,410

 
$
231,472

 
$
169,275

 
$
189,420

 
$
268,005

Total assets
 
1,061,506

 
1,032,960

 
942,205

 
887,681

 
926,820

Total stockholders’ equity
 
510,678

 
468,456

 
385,110

 
363,877

 
423,445

(Footnotes on following page)

19

(Footnotes for preceding page)

(1)
“Other non-operating expense, net” primarily consists of foreign currency transaction gains or losses.
(2)
Comparable sales provide a measure of existing store sales performance. A store is included in comparable sales in its thirteenth month of operation. A store with a square footage change of greater than 15% is treated as a new store for the first year following its reopening. Sales from our Websites are also included in comparable sales. In a fiscal year with 53 weeks, such as Fiscal 2012, sales in the last week of that fiscal year are excluded from comparable sales. International franchise stores are not considered in the determination of comparable sales.
(3)
Capital expenditures are accounted for on the accrual basis and reflect the net increase/(decrease) in non-cash transactions of $(8.8) million, $2.0 million, $2.5 million, $5.5 million and $3.2 million in Fiscal 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011 and 2010, respectively. The non-cash transactions are primarily related to the purchase of property and equipment on account.
(4)
Working capital turnover is determined by dividing net sales by the average of the amount of working capital at the beginning and end of the period.
(5)
Inventory turnover is determined by dividing cost of sales by the average of the cost of inventory at the beginning and end of the period.


20

ITEM 7.
Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.

The following discussion and analysis should be read together with our consolidated financial statements and notes thereto included elsewhere in this Report.
Management Overview
Our Fiscal 2014 results were impacted by several external factors, including weak industry traffic and a highly promotional retail environment throughout much of the year, as well as work slowdowns and the resulting shipping congestion at West Coast ports, which further weighed on results during the back half of the year. In response to these external challenges, we were forced to be more promotional than planned to clear through inventory and also incurred approximately $13 million in incremental pre-tax air freight costs as we employed contingency plans to mitigate the impact of the situation at the West Coast ports. Adding to these external challenges, we experienced soft product performance in select categories at both Ann Taylor and LOFT during the year. Although net sales improved slightly compared with Fiscal 2013, the combined effect of these challenges impacted comparable sales and pressured gross margin performance, driving a comparable sales decrease of 1.9% and a 290 basis point decline in gross margin rate performance compared to last year. We also recorded a pre-tax restructuring charge of $17.3 million during the first quarter of Fiscal 2014 in connection with our strategic organizational realignment, which was designed to integrate processes across the organization in support of our omni-channel retail strategy to better serve our clients. Based on the ongoing positive impact of savings associated with our restructuring and continued disciplined expense management, we were able to mitigate some of the topline and margin exposure through an overall decrease in selling, general and administrative expenses. Despite this, both net income and diluted earnings per share were down more than 30% compared to last year.
At the Ann Taylor brand, total net sales decreased 0.7% compared to last year, with overall comparable sales down 2.2%. At Ann Taylor, which includes Ann Taylor stores and anntaylor.com, comparable sales decreased 0.7%, primarily due to the combined effect of soft traffic and the highly promotional retail environment, as well as soft product performance in select categories during the Fall season. In hindsight, our Fall merchandise assortment would have benefitted from more color and print choices, as well as a better balance across the style offering in tops. At Ann Taylor Factory, comparable sales decreased 5.2%, which reflected the impact of continued traffic challenges and a highly promotional environment in factory outlet centers as well as soft product performance, particularly in knit tops. Going forward, we will continue to carefully manage our inventory position in the factory channel, with a focus on maximizing bottom-line performance.
At the LOFT brand, total net sales across all channels increased 3.1% over last year, while overall comparable sales declined 1.7%. At LOFT, which includes LOFT stores and LOFT.com, comparable sales decreased 2.4% during Fiscal 2014. LOFT experienced soft product performance in certain categories during the first half of the year and was also impacted by soft traffic and a highly promotional retail environment throughout much of the year, however comparable sales improved as the year progressed due to the overall strength of our merchandise assortment.  At LOFT Outlet, comparable sales increased 1.3% for the year, despite the impact of continued traffic challenges and a highly promotional environment in factory outlet centers, primarily as a result of a strong merchandise assortment that was well-received by clients. Looking ahead, we believe that overall the LOFT brand is well-positioned for the Spring 2015 season with new and exciting fashion and everyday essentials, all at great value.
Our Fiscal 2014 real estate strategy continued to focus on optimizing our store portfolio in order to improve profitability and better serve our clients. At Ann Taylor, we continued to right-size existing Ann Taylor stores to our smaller format, close underperforming stores and expand the presence of Ann Taylor Factory in upscale factory outlet centers. Toward this end, we opened three new Ann Taylor stores, eight new Ann Taylor Factory stores and right-sized and/or remodeled an additional seven Ann Taylor stores during Fiscal 2014. At LOFT, we continued to selectively expand the fleet in small- and mid-sized markets and increase the reach of LOFT Outlet through the opening of new stores. This resulted in the addition of 17 new LOFT stores and 17 new LOFT Outlet stores during Fiscal 2014. In addition, after the successful launch of Lou & Grey as a standalone concept with the opening of our first shop-in-shop within an existing LOFT store in early 2014, we further tested the concept with the opening of five free-standing stores during the back half of the year. We are encouraged by the initial results of these stores and plan to open approximately five additional free-standing Lou & Grey stores in Fiscal 2015 as we continue to further refine the concept. In addition, we continued to further expand our international presence, with the opening of three franchised LOFT stores in Mexico in the back half of Fiscal 2014.
During Fiscal 2014, we also continued to evolve our omni-channel and e-commerce offerings to provide our clients a seamless and brand-appropriate cross-channel shopping experience. To this end, we upgraded both the utility and aesthetic appeal of our Websites and also launched our enhanced mobile experience, and have since seen higher levels of conversion and improved client engagement. We also began piloting Phase 2 of our omni-channel “endless aisle” capabilities in select Ann Taylor and LOFT stores, thereby providing our clients access to online merchandise from the store environment. Based on the success of this pilot, we anticipate full execution of Phase 2 across our brands in Fiscal 2015.


21

Finally, in our continued efforts to explore further operational efficiencies and expense savings, we launched a comprehensive Supply Chain initiative in late 2014, which is expected to generate at least $50 million of incremental gross margin annually by 2017. Our Supply Chain initiative is focused on enhancing the effectiveness and efficiency of our sourcing capabilities and identifying opportunities to enhance our profitability with an emphasis on speed, flexibility, improved product sell-through and reduced cost of goods sold. In Fiscal 2015, we plan to initiate an SG&A optimization program that is currently targeted to generate approximately $35 million in ongoing, annualized savings by 2016. These initiatives are expected to contribute meaningfully to the Company’s profitability. In addition, we expect to continue to operate and adjust our business for ongoing external challenges throughout the year. Accordingly, we have positioned our inventories conservatively for Fiscal 2015, which we believe is critical to enhancing gross margin and corporate profitability.
Overall, we believe the actions we took in Fiscal 2014 and expect to take in Fiscal 2015 will enhance our ability to deliver compelling product, further evolve the seamless brand experience for our clients and improve our responsiveness, efficiency and flexibility. We believe these actions strengthen our position as the go-to wardrobing destination for women of style and build on the strength of our brands in order to deliver long-term, profitable growth.
Key Performance Indicators
In evaluating our performance, senior management reviews certain key performance indicators, including:
•
Comparable sales – Comparable sales (“comps”) provide a measure of existing store sales performance. A store is included in comparable sales in its thirteenth month of operation. A store with a square footage change of greater than 15% is treated as a new store for the first year following its reopening. Sales from our Websites are also included in comparable sales. In a fiscal year with 53 weeks, such as Fiscal 2012, sales in the last week of that fiscal year are excluded from comparable sales. International franchise stores are not considered in the determination of comparable sales.
•
Gross margin and merchandise gross margin – Gross margin measures our ability to control the direct costs of merchandise sold during the period.  Merchandise gross margin represents the difference between net merchandise sales and merchandise cost.   Merchandise cost includes the cost paid to our third-party suppliers for merchandise sold during the period and the cost to transport that merchandise from our suppliers to our distribution center, including customs costs.  Gross margin includes merchandise gross margin, as well as the effect of revenue and/or expenses related to:  our sourcing operations; fulfillment and shipment of online and omni-channel sales; depreciation related to merchandise management systems; sample development costs; our franchise operations in Mexico; and direct costs of our credit card loyalty program. Buying and occupancy costs are excluded from cost of sales and gross margin.
•
Operating income – Because retailers do not uniformly record supply chain, buying and/or occupancy costs as components of cost of sales or selling, general and administrative expenses, operating income allows us to benchmark our performance relative to other retailers. Operating income represents earnings before interest, other income/expense and income taxes and measures our earnings power from ongoing operations.
•
Store productivity – Store productivity, including sales per-square-foot, average unit retail price (“AUR”), units per transaction (“UPT”), dollars per transaction (“DPT”), traffic and conversion, is evaluated by management in assessing our operating performance.
•
Inventory turnover – Inventory turnover measures our ability to sell our merchandise and how many times it is replaced over time. This ratio is important in determining the need for markdowns, planning future inventory levels and assessing client response to our merchandise.
•
Quality of merchandise offerings – To monitor and maintain client acceptance of our merchandise offerings, we monitor sell-through levels, inventory turnover, gross margin, returns and markdown rates at a class and style level. This analysis helps identify merchandise issues at an early date and helps us plan future product development and buying.


22

Results of Operations
The following table sets forth data from our Consolidated Statements of Operations expressed as a percentage of net sales. All fiscal years presented contain 52 weeks, except for the fiscal year ended February 2, 2013, which includes 53 weeks:
 
 
Fiscal Year Ended
 
January 31, 2015

February 1, 2014

February 2, 2013
Net sales
100.0
 %
 
100.0
 %
 
100.0
 %
Cost of sales
49.0
 %
 
46.1
 %
 
45.2
 %
Gross margin
51.0
 %
 
53.9
 %
 
54.8
 %
Selling, general and administrative expenses
45.9
 %
 
47.1
 %
 
47.8
 %
Restructuring charge
0.7
 %
 
—
 %
 
—
 %
Operating income
4.4
 %
 
6.8
 %
 
7.0
 %
Interest and investment income/(expense), net
—
 %
 
—
 %
 
—
 %
Other non-operating expense, net
—
 %
 
—
 %
 
—
 %
Income before income taxes
4.4
 %
 
6.8
 %
 
7.0
 %
Income tax provision
1.7
 %
 
2.7
 %
 
2.7
 %
Net income
2.7
 %
 
4.1
 %
 
4.3
 %

The following table sets forth selected data from our Consolidated Statements of Operations expressed as a percentage change from the prior period. All fiscal years presented contain 52 weeks, except for the fiscal year ended February 2, 2013, which includes 53 weeks:
 
 
Fiscal Year Ended
 
January 31, 2015
 
February 1, 2014
 
February 2, 2013
Net sales
1.6
 %
 
5.0
 %
 
7.4
%
Gross margin
(3.9
)%
 
3.1
 %
 
7.8
%
Operating income
(34.3
)%
 
2.0
 %
 
14.6
%
Net income
(33.6
)%
 
(0.2
)%
 
18.5
%
Sales and Sales Metrics
The following tables present information on sales and certain sales-related metrics. All fiscal years presented contain 52 weeks, except for the fiscal year ended February 2, 2013, which includes 53 weeks.
 
 
Fiscal Year Ended
 
January 31, 2015

February 1, 2014

February 2, 2013
 
Sales
 
Comp %
 
Sales
 
Comp %
 
Sales
 
Comp %
 
($ in thousands)
Sales and Comparable Sales
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Ann Taylor brand
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Ann Taylor (1)
$
658,653

 
(0.7
)%
 
$
667,995

 
4.9
 %
 
$
644,486

 
1.8
 %
Ann Taylor Factory
294,145

 
(5.2
)%
 
291,797

 
(6.6
)%
 
300,738

 
(0.5
)%
Total Ann Taylor brand
952,798

 
(2.2
)%
 
959,792

 
1.1
 %
 
945,224

 
1.1
 %
LOFT brand
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
LOFT (2)
1,276,418

 
(2.4
)%
 
1,272,854

 
4.2
 %
 
1,202,244

 
5.8
 %
LOFT Outlet
304,244

 
1.3
 %
 
260,845

 
(3.0
)%
 
228,041

 
(1.5
)%
Total LOFT brand
1,580,662

 
(1.7
)%
 
1,533,699

 
3.0
 %
 
1,430,285

 
4.8
 %
Total Company
$
2,533,460

 
(1.9
)%
 
$
2,493,491

 
2.3
 %
 
$
2,375,509

 
3.3
 %
(1)
Includes sales at Ann Taylor stores and anntaylor.com.
(2)
Includes sales at LOFT stores, LOFT.com and Lou & Grey stores.

23

 
Fiscal Year Ended
 
January 31, 2015

February 1, 2014

February 2, 2013
Sales-Related Metrics
 
 
 
 
 
Average Dollars Per Transaction (“DPT”)
 
 
 
 
 
Ann Taylor brand (1)
$
74.97

 
$
74.67

 
$
77.67

LOFT brand (2)
61.28

 
60.54

 
60.38

Average Units Per Transaction (“UPT”)
 
 
 
 
 
Ann Taylor brand (1)
2.43

 
2.43

 
2.36

LOFT brand (2)
2.63

 
2.63

 
2.55

Average Unit Retail (“AUR”)
 
 
 
 
 
Ann Taylor brand (1)
$
30.85

 
$
30.73

 
$
32.91

LOFT brand (2)
23.30

 
23.02

 
23.68

(1)Includes Ann Taylor stores, anntaylor.com and Ann Taylor Factory stores.
(2)Includes LOFT stores, LOFT.com, LOFT Outlet stores and Lou & Grey stores.
Store Data
The following table sets forth certain store data:
 
Fiscal Year Ended
 
January 31, 2015
 
February 1, 2014
 
February 2, 2013
 
Stores
 
Square Feet
 
Stores
 
Square Feet
 
Stores
 
Square Feet
 
(square feet in thousands)
Stores and Square Footage
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Ann Taylor brand
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Ann Taylor
245

 
1,167

 
268

 
1,329

 
275

 
1,389

Ann Taylor Factory
116

 
777

 
108

 
732

 
101

 
696

Total Ann Taylor brand
361

 
1,944

 
376

 
2,061

 
376

 
2,085

LOFT brand
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
LOFT (1)
542

 
3,058

 
539

 
3,081

 
512

 
2,950

LOFT Outlet
127

 
832

 
110

 
731

 
96

 
650

Total LOFT brand
669

 
3,890

 
649

 
3,812

 
608

 
3,600

Total Company
1,030

 
5,834

 
1,025

 
5,873

 
984

 
5,685

Number of Company-operated:
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Stores open at beginning of period
1,025

 
5,873

 
984

 
5,685

 
953

 
5,584

New stores
50

 
259

 
66

 
344

 
63

 
340

Downsized/expanded stores, net (2)
—

 
(31
)
 
—

 
(24
)
 
—

 
(69
)
Closed stores
(45
)
 
(267
)
 
(25
)
 
(132
)
 
(32
)
 
(170
)
Stores open at end of period
1,030

 
5,834

 
1,025

 
5,873

 
984

 
5,685

International franchise stores open at end of period (3)
3

 
 
 
—

 
 
 
—

 
 
 
(1)
Includes Lou & Grey stores.
(2)
During Fiscal 2014, we downsized six Ann Taylor stores, four LOFT stores and one LOFT Outlet store. During Fiscal 2013, we downsized 10 Ann Taylor stores, two Ann Taylor Factory stores and five LOFT stores and expanded two LOFT stores. During Fiscal 2012, we downsized 18 Ann Taylor stores, four Ann Taylor Factory stores, five LOFT stores and one LOFT Outlet store.
(3)
International franchise stores are not considered in brand-level or Company-operated stores and square footage data.


24

Comparison of Fiscal Years 2014 and 2013
Total net sales for Fiscal 2014 increased approximately $40.0 million, or 1.6%, as compared with Fiscal 2013, with comparable sales down 1.9%. Approximately one-half of the decrease in total comparable sales was offset by higher sales at our Websites. The increase in net sales was primarily due to the impact of net store growth and higher revenue related to our private label and co-branded credit card program, partially offset by a decline in total comparable sales. Importantly, comp trends improved during the fourth quarter, reflecting the impact of continued investments in our omni-channel capabilities and the launch of a new mobile and web platform. Overall, our sales results were impacted by softer traffic trends and a highly promotional retail environment throughout much of Fiscal 2014.
At the Ann Taylor brand, total net sales across all channels decreased approximately $7.0 million or 0.7%, in Fiscal 2014 as compared with Fiscal 2013, with comparable sales down 2.2%. At Ann Taylor, which includes Ann Taylor stores and anntaylor.com, net sales decreased 1.4% to $658.7 million, driven by a 0.7% decrease in comparable sales, the impact of a net reduction in stores, soft traffic and the highly promotional retail environment, as well as soft product performance in select categories during the Fall season. At Ann Taylor Factory, net sales increased 0.8% to $294.1 million, primarily due to the impact of net store growth, partially offset by a 5.2% decrease in comparable sales. This performance reflected continued traffic challenges and a highly promotional environment in factory outlet centers as well as soft product performance in certain categories, all of which contributed to decreases in AUR and DPT.
At the LOFT brand, total net sales across all channels increased approximately $47.0 million, or 3.1%, in Fiscal 2014 as compared with Fiscal 2013, with comparable sales down 1.7%. At LOFT, which includes LOFT stores, Lou & Grey stores and LOFT.com, net sales increased 0.3% to $1,276.4 million, due to a year-over-year net increase in stores and increases in AUR and DPT, partially offset by a 2.4% decrease in comparable sales.  LOFT experienced soft product performance in certain categories, particularly knit tops, during the first half of the year which, combined with the impact of soft traffic and a highly promotional retail environment throughout the year, contributed to the full-year comparable sales decline.  At LOFT Outlet, net sales increased 16.6% to $304.2 million due to the combined impact of net store growth and a 1.3% increase in comparable sales. Overall, LOFT Outlet offered a strong merchandise assortment that was well-received by clients and managed an effective promotional strategy, both of which helped mitigate continued traffic challenges in factory outlet centers and helped drive year-over-year increases in conversion, UPT and DPT.
Comparison of Fiscal Years 2013 and 2012
Total net sales increased approximately $118.0 million, or 5.0%, in Fiscal 2013 as compared with Fiscal 2012. This was driven, in part, by a 2.3% increase in total comparable sales, with approximately two-thirds of the increase in total comparable sales attributed to higher sales at our Websites. The remainder of the increase in total net sales was primarily due to net store growth; increases in traffic and transactions at Ann Taylor and LOFT, reflecting the continued benefit of our omni-channel initiative; and the benefit of our strategy to offer clients a broader assortment of relevant fashion in-store and online. Despite continued soft traffic trends, particularly in factory outlet centers throughout the year, and tepid consumer spending during the holiday selling season, both brands experienced increases in total net sales and comparable sales over the prior-year period, which benefited from approximately $25.4 million in total net sales due to the effect of the 53rd week.
At the Ann Taylor brand, total net sales increased approximately $14.6 million, or 1.5%, in Fiscal 2013 as compared with Fiscal 2012, with comparable sales increasing 1.1%. At Ann Taylor, which includes Ann Taylor stores and anntaylor.com, net sales increased 3.6% to $668.0 million, driven by a 4.9% increase in comparable sales partially offset by the impact of a net reduction in stores. Our strategy to provide an expanded assortment of relevant fashion across all price points, both in-store and online, as well as the success of our wear-to-work offerings, drove increases in traffic, transactions and UPT, all of which contributed to this performance. At Ann Taylor Factory, net sales decreased 3.0% to $291.8 million, due to the net effect of a 6.6% decrease in comparable sales, partially offset by the impact of net store growth during the period. This performance reflected the impact of softer traffic and a highly promotional environment in factory outlet centers, which caused a decrease in transactions and lower AUR and DPT as compared to Fiscal 2012.
At the LOFT brand, total net sales increased $103.4 million, or 7.2%, in Fiscal 2013 as compared with Fiscal 2012, with comparable sales increasing 3.0%. At LOFT, which includes LOFT stores and LOFT.com, net sales increased 5.9% to $1,272.9 million, driven by a 4.2% increase in comparable sales and the impact of a net increase in stores over the prior year. LOFT experienced increases in traffic, UPT and DPT and also benefited from our strategy to expand the brand into small and mid-sized markets. At LOFT Outlet, net sales increased 14.4% to $260.8 million, which was primarily due to net store growth, partially offset by a 3.0% decrease in comparable sales. LOFT Outlet was similarly impacted by softer traffic at factory outlet centers, which caused decreases in AUR and DPT as compared to Fiscal 2012.
Our net sales do not show significant seasonal variation. As a result, we have not had significant overhead and other costs generally associated with large seasonal variations.

25

Cost of Sales and Gross Margin
Because retailers do not uniformly record supply chain, buying and/or occupancy costs as cost of sales or selling, general and administrative expenses, our gross margin and selling, general and administrative expenses, both in dollars and as a percentage of net sales, may not be comparable to other retailers. For additional information regarding costs classified in “Cost of sales” and “Selling, general and administrative expenses,” on our Consolidated Statements of Operations, refer to Note 1, “Summary of Significant Accounting Policies,” in the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements.
The following table presents cost of sales and gross margin in dollars and gross margin as a percentage of net sales:
 
 
Fiscal Year Ended
 
January 31, 2015

February 1, 2014

February 2, 2013
 
(dollars in thousands)
Cost of sales
$
1,242,506

 
$
1,150,183

 
$
1,073,167

Gross margin
$
1,290,954

 
$
1,343,308

 
$
1,302,342

Percentage of net sales
51.0
%
 
53.9
%
 
54.8
%
Comparison of Fiscal Years 2014 and 2013
Gross margin as a percentage of net sales was 51.0% in Fiscal 2014, down 290 basis points from the 53.9% achieved in Fiscal 2013. The overall decrease in gross margin rate performance was primarily due to a 230 basis point decline in merchandise gross margin rate, which was negatively impacted by continued traffic challenges and a highly competitive retail environment, both of which caused us to be more promotional than planned at both brands in order to clear through inventory. In addition, soft product performance in certain categories at LOFT during the first half and at Ann Taylor during the second half of Fiscal 2014 also negatively impacted merchandise gross margin rate performance. Finally, during the second half of Fiscal 2014, labor uncertainty at the West Coast ports resulted in higher levels of air transportation to ensure on-time delivery of key merchandise, which resulted in approximately $13 million in incremental shipping costs, driving 50 basis points of the year-over-year decrease in overall gross margin rate performance.
Comparison of Fiscal Years 2013 and 2012
Gross margin as a percentage of net sales was 53.9% in Fiscal 2013, a decrease from 54.8% in Fiscal 2012. Our full-year gross margin results were negatively impacted by a highly competitive retail environment, which caused us to be more promotional than planned at both brands in order to clear through inventory. As a result, we experienced an overall decrease in merchandise gross margin rate, despite higher merchandise gross-margin rate performance at Ann Taylor, which was primarily due to higher full-price sell-through. Our year-over-year gross margin rate performance was also negatively impacted by higher levels of client shipping associated with a full-year of omni-channel sales in Fiscal 2013 as compared to Fiscal 2012, as well as the benefit in the prior-year period associated with initial recognition of gift card and merchandise credit breakage.
Selling, General and Administrative Expenses
The following table presents selling, general and administrative expenses in dollars and as a percentage of net sales:
 
 
Fiscal Year Ended
 
January 31, 2015

February 1, 2014

February 2, 2013
 
(dollars in thousands)
Selling, general and administrative expenses
$
1,161,838

 
$
1,173,234

 
$
1,135,551

Percentage of net sales
45.9
%
 
47.1
%
 
47.8
%
Comparison of Fiscal Years 2014 and 2013
Selling, general and administrative expenses in Fiscal 2014 decreased approximately $11.4 million compared with Fiscal 2013. This decrease was primarily due to lower performance-based compensation expense, a reduction in marketing expenses and approximately $20 million in savings realized as a result of our first quarter 2014 restructuring. These decreases were partially offset by an overall increase in occupancy costs, including the impact of a $5 million third quarter charge related to the early lease termination and related closure of our Ann Taylor store on Madison Avenue in New York City, other variable expenses related to store growth and other expenses to support the expansion of our business.


26

As a percentage of net sales, selling, general and administrative expenses in Fiscal 2014 decreased 120 basis points as compared to Fiscal 2013, reflecting the impact of lower marketing and performance-based compensation expenses, as well as savings associated with our first quarter 2014 restructuring. These decreases were partially offset by an increase in occupancy costs and other variable expenses related to store growth, including the impact of the above-mentioned charge, as well as other expenses to support the expansion of our business.
Comparison of Fiscal Years 2013 and 2012
Selling, general and administrative expenses in Fiscal 2013 increased approximately $37.7 million compared with Fiscal 2012. This increase was primarily due to increases in payroll, occupancy and other variable expenses related to store growth and higher net sales, as well as other expenses to support the expansion of our business. These increases were partially offset by an overall decrease in performance-based compensation expense. As a percentage of net sales, selling, general and administrative expenses decreased 0.7% as compared to Fiscal 2012, reflecting the benefit of increased fixed cost leverage as a result of higher net sales and lower performance-based compensation expense.
Restructuring Charge
During the first quarter of Fiscal 2014, we executed an organizational restructuring in support of our omni-channel retail strategy and our strategic growth initiatives. As part of the restructuring, we realigned certain functions within our corporate workforce, including our marketing, merchandise planning, procurement and allocation functions, to eliminate redundancy and integrate processes to better support our brands and serve our clients. These actions resulted in the separation of approximately 100 full-time associates. In connection with this effort, we recorded a pre-tax restructuring charge of approximately $17.3 million for severance and other costs in the first quarter of Fiscal 2014. The restructuring resulted in pre-tax operating savings of approximately $20 million in Fiscal 2014 and is expected to generate ongoing savings of approximately $25 million in Fiscal 2015 and annually thereafter. For additional information, see Note 2, “Restructuring Charge,” in the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements.
Income Taxes
The following table presents our income tax provision and effective income tax rate:
 
 
Fiscal Year Ended
 
January 31, 2015

February 1, 2014

February 2, 2013
 
(dollars in thousands)
Income tax provision
$
42,635

 
$
67,533

 
$
65,068

Effective income tax rate
38.5
%
 
39.7
%
 
38.8
%
Our effective income tax rate decreased to 38.5% in Fiscal 2014 as compared to 39.7% in Fiscal 2013, primarily due to the benefit of certain tax credits taken in Fiscal 2014 related to the current period and prior open periods based on a study conducted in Fiscal 2014. Our effective income tax rate increased to 39.7% in Fiscal 2013 as compared to 38.8% in Fiscal 2012, primarily due to the benefit in the prior-year period of tax positions that were considered effectively settled. See Note 10, “Income Taxes,” in the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements for further discussion.
Liquidity and Capital Resources
Our primary sources of liquidity are cash flow from operations, available cash and availability under our revolving credit facility.  Our primary ongoing cash requirements relate to working capital needs, retail store expansion, store renovation and refurbishment and investments in technology.
The following table sets forth certain measures of our liquidity:
 
 
Fiscal Year Ended
 
January 31, 2015
 
February 1, 2014
 
February 2, 2013
 
(dollars in thousands)
Cash provided by operating activities
$
156,397

 
$
215,747

 
$
258,909

Working capital
$
269,410

 
$
231,472

 
$
169,275

Current ratio
1.81:1

 
1.70:1

 
1.50:1



27

Operating Activities
Cash provided by operating activities was $156.4 million in Fiscal 2014 as compared to $215.7 million in Fiscal 2013, a decrease of $59.3 million. The year-over-year decrease in cash provided by operating activities was primarily due to lower net income, higher year-over-year income tax payments and the lease termination payment associated with our Madison Avenue store closing. This was partially offset by the impact of lower payments under our incentive compensation plans.
Cash provided by operating activities decreased $43.2 million to $215.7 million, in Fiscal 2013 as compared to $258.9 million in Fiscal 2012. The year-over-year decrease is primarily the result of increases in cash used for the purchase of merchandise inventories, payments related to our incentive compensation plans and the timing of payment of income taxes, accounts payable and other accrued expenses, partially offset by the receipt of an upfront bonus associated with our credit card program.
Merchandise inventories increased approximately $25.4 million, or 10.6%, in Fiscal 2014 as compared to Fiscal 2013. On a per-square-foot basis, merchandise inventories increased 11% as compared to last year, reflecting increases of 6% at Ann Taylor and 24% at LOFT, partially offset by a 2% decrease in our factory outlet channel. The increases at Ann Taylor and LOFT were primarily driven by a change in the timing of Spring receipts versus last year, as well as changes in merchandise mix. Excluding the impact of receipt timing, inventory per square foot at Ann Taylor and LOFT were up by 3% and 7%, respectively, as compared to Fiscal 2013. The decrease at factory outlet was consistent with the change in comparable sales. Inventory turned 4.9 times in Fiscal 2014 and 5.0 times in Fiscal 2013.
Investing Activities
Cash used for investing activities was $109.0 million in Fiscal 2014, compared with $142.6 million in Fiscal 2013. Cash used for investing activities in Fiscal 2014 was primarily related to capital expenditures associated with our store expansion and refurbishment projects and continued investments in technology.
Cash used for investing activities was $142.6 million in Fiscal 2013, compared with $149.9 million in Fiscal 2012. Cash used for investing activities in Fiscal 2013 was primarily related to capital expenditures associated with our store expansion and refurbishment projects, continued enhancements to our online capabilities and other investments in technology.
The following table sets forth a breakdown of our accrual-basis capital expenditures:
 
 
Fiscal Year Ended
 
January 31, 2015
 
February 1, 2014
 
February 2, 2013
 
(in thousands)
New store construction
$
33,244

 
$
70,840

 
$
76,631

Store renovation/refurbishment
38,511

 
42,590

 
45,524

Information systems
24,906

 
26,739

 
23,298

Corporate offices/distribution center
2,213

 
3,974

 
3,792

Other
611

 
922

 
492

Total
$
99,485

 
$
145,065

 
$
149,737

We expect our total capital expenditure requirements in Fiscal 2015 will be approximately $85 million. Of this amount, approximately $35 million will be spent on new store construction, driven by the planned opening of approximately 40 stores. Approximately $25 million will be spent on planned downsizes and remodels and other store renovation and refurbishment projects. The new stores, store closures and downsizes are expected to result in a net decrease in total square footage of approximately 20,000 square feet, or approximately 0.3% as compared to Fiscal 2014. In addition, approximately $25 million is planned for continued investments in information systems, technology and further integration of our Websites through additional enhancements to website functionality. The actual amount of our capital expenditures will depend in part on the number of stores opened, expanded and refurbished. To finance our capital requirements, we expect to use internally generated funds. See “Business - Stores” for further discussion.
Financing Activities
Cash used for financing activities was $40.8 million in Fiscal 2014, compared with $38.0 million in Fiscal 2013. Cash used for financing activities in Fiscal 2014 was primarily related to the repurchase of our common stock, partially offset by cash inflows related to stock option exercise activity and the related tax benefits.
Cash used for financing activities was $38.0 million in Fiscal 2013, compared with $92.2 million in Fiscal 2012. Cash used for financing activities in Fiscal 2012 was primarily related to the repurchase of our common stock, partially offset by cash inflows related to stock option exercise activity and the related tax benefits.

28

Revolving Credit Facility
On December 19, 2012, our wholly-owned subsidiary, AnnTaylor, Inc., and certain of its subsidiaries, entered into a Fourth Amended and Restated $250 million senior secured revolving credit facility with Bank of America, N.A. and a syndicate of lenders (the “Credit Facility”).
The Credit Facility, which expires on December 19, 2017, includes a $75 million sub-facility solely for loans and letters of credit to be provided to ANN Canada Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of AnnTaylor, Inc., and an option to expand the total facility and the aggregate commitments thereunder up to $400 million, subject to the lenders’ agreement to increase their commitment for the requested amount. The Credit Facility may be used for working capital, letters of credit and other corporate purposes and contains an acceleration clause which, upon the occurrence of an Event of Default, including, but not limited to, a Material Adverse Effect, as defined in the Credit Facility, may cause any outstanding borrowings to become immediately due and payable.
The maximum availability for loans and letters of credit under the Credit Facility is governed by a quarterly borrowing base, determined by the application of specified percentages to certain eligible assets, primarily accounts receivable and inventory. Commercial and standby letters of credit outstanding under the Credit Facility totaled approximately $12.5 million, $11.0 million and $14.1 million as of January 31, 2015, February 1, 2014 and February 2, 2013, respectively, leaving a remaining available balance for loans and letters of credit of $188.0 million, $171.4 million and $150.8 million as of January 31, 2015, February 1, 2014 and February 2, 2013, respectively. There were no borrowings outstanding under the Credit Facility at January 31, 2015, February 1, 2014, or as of March 13, 2015, the date of this Report.
The Credit Facility permits us to pay cash dividends (and permits dividends by AnnTaylor, Inc. to fund such cash dividends) subject to certain Liquidity requirements (as defined in the Credit Facility) and other conditions as set forth in the Credit Facility. Subject, in some cases, to specific exceptions, certain of our subsidiaries are also permitted to pay dividends to us to fund certain taxes owed by us; fund ordinary operating expenses not in excess of $500,000 in any fiscal year; repurchase common stock held by employees not in excess of $100,000 in any fiscal year; and for certain other stated purposes. See Note 5, “Revolving Credit Facility,” in the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements for further discussion.
Repurchase Program
During Fiscal 2014, we repurchased 1.3 million shares of our common stock under our Repurchase Program through open market purchases at a cost of $50.0 million. As of January 31, 2015 and March 13, 2015, the date of this Report, $200 million remained available for share repurchases under the Repurchase Program.
During Fiscal 2013 and Fiscal 2012, under our then existing $600 million securities repurchase program, we repurchased 1.5 million and 4.9 million shares of our common stock, respectively, through open market purchases at a cost of $49 million, and $135 million, respectively. There are no amounts remaining for additional share repurchases under this securities repurchase program. See Note 6, “Repurchase Program,” in the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements for further discussion. We will continue to evaluate the repurchase of additional shares of our common stock under our Repurchase program in Fiscal 2015.
Credit Card Program
We have a credit card program that offers eligible clients in the U.S. the choice of a private label or co-branded credit card. All cardholders are automatically enrolled in our exclusive rewards program, which is designed to recognize and promote client loyalty. We provide the sponsoring bank with marketing support of the program, and use our sales force to process credit card applications for both the private label and co-branded credit cards. On December 2, 2013, we entered into an eight-year agreement with the sponsoring bank, which amended and restated the original agreement that began in October 2008. As with the original agreement, we received an upfront signing bonus from the sponsoring bank and also receive ongoing payments for new accounts activated as well as a share of finance charges collected by the sponsoring bank. These revenue streams are accounted for as a single unit of accounting and accordingly, are recognized as revenue ratably based on the total projected revenues over the term of the agreement.
During Fiscal 2014, Fiscal 2013 and Fiscal 2012, we recognized approximately $47.1 million, $18.8 million and $17.8 million of revenue related to the credit card program, respectively. Partially offsetting this revenue are costs, net of points breakage, related to our client loyalty program. These costs are included in either “Cost of sales” or in “Net sales” as a sales discount, as appropriate. The cost of sales impact was approximately $12.0 million, $5.2 million and $5.7 million and the sales discount impact was approximately $20.0 million, $6.8 million and $6.8 million in Fiscal 2014, Fiscal 2013 and Fiscal 2012, respectively. At January 31, 2015, February 1, 2014 and February 2, 2013, approximately $2.9 million, $3.0 million and $3.0 million, respectively, of deferred credit card income is included in “Accrued expenses and other current liabilities” on our Consolidated Balance Sheets. Additionally, at January 31, 2015 and February 1, 2014, approximately $17.3 million and $20.7 million of long-term deferred credit card income is included in “Other liabilities” on our Consolidated Balance Sheets.


29

Pension Plan
Our funding obligations and liability under the terms of our non-contributory defined benefit pension plan (the “Pension Plan”), which was frozen in Fiscal 2007, are determined using certain actuarial assumptions, including a discount rate and an expected long-term rate of return on Pension Plan assets. The discount rate enables us to state expected future cash payments for pension benefits as a present value on the measurement date. A lower discount rate increases the present value of the benefit obligations and increases pension expense. The discount rate selected was based on a yield curve which uses expected cash flows from the Pension Plan and then discounts those cash flows with the bond rate for that period. This resulted in a discount rate of 3.5%. A one percent decrease in the discount rate would increase total net periodic pension expense for Fiscal 2015 by $1.0 million and would increase the liability for pension benefits at January 31, 2015 by $8.4 million. A one percent increase in the discount rate would decrease total net periodic pension expense for Fiscal 2015 by $0.3 million and would decrease the liability for pension benefits at January 31, 2015 by $6.4 million.
Pension Plan assets as of January 31, 2015 were allocated 33% in equities, and 67% in bond-related funds. For the purposes of developing long-term rates of return, it was assumed that any temporary short-term investments were reallocated to equities and bond-related funds, yielding assumed long-term rates of return of 6.90% and 3.73%, respectively. To develop the expected long-term rate of return on Pension Plan assets, we considered historical returns and future expectations for returns on each asset class, as well as the target asset allocation of the pension portfolio. A lower expected rate of return on Pension Plan assets would increase pension expense. Our expected long-term rate of return on Pension Plan assets was 5.1% for each of Fiscal 2014 and Fiscal 2013. A one percent change in the long-term rate of return assumption would impact Fiscal 2015 pension expense by approximately $0.3 million.
Pension expense in Fiscal 2014 was $0.6 million lower than Fiscal 2013, excluding settlement charges, since the unrecognized loss did not exceed 10% of the projected benefit obligation or assets. Pension expense in Fiscal 2013 was $0.2 million lower than Fiscal 2012, excluding settlement charges, due to a large amount of lump sum distributions made in Fiscal 2012. Pension expense for Fiscal 2015, excluding any potential settlement charges, is projected to be approximately $0.1 million, consistent with Fiscal 2014, as the impact of the lower discount rate and updated mortality assumptions was offset by an increase in the expected long-term rate of return. Our Pension Plan is invested in readily-liquid investments, primarily equity and debt securities. Although we were not required to make a contribution to the Pension Plan in Fiscal 2014 or Fiscal 2013, any deterioration in the financial markets or changes in discount rates may require us to make a contribution to our Pension Plan in Fiscal 2015.
During Fiscal 2014 and Fiscal 2012, we recognized non-cash Pension Plan settlement charges of $0.1 million and $1.8 million, respectively, since the total amount of lump sum pension distribution payments made to Pension Plan participants exceeded the interest component of pension expense. These Pension Plan settlement charges are included in “Selling, general and administrative expenses” in our Consolidated Statements of Operations. There were no such Pension Plan settlement charges recognized during Fiscal 2013. The higher level of pension settlement charges recognized in Fiscal 2012 was due to our efforts to encourage certain eligible Pension Plan participants with vested benefits to elect a lump-sum distribution payment.
Other
We are self-insured for expenses related to our employee point of service medical plan, our workers’ compensation plan, our general liability plan and for short-term and long-term disability, up to certain thresholds. Claims filed, as well as claims incurred but not reported, are accrued based on management’s estimates, using information received from plan administrators, third-party actuaries, historical analysis and other relevant data. We believe we have taken reasonable steps to ensure that we are adequately accrued for incurred costs related to these programs at January 31, 2015.
We have significant amounts of cash on deposit at FDIC-insured financial institutions that are currently in excess of federally insured limits, therefore, we cannot be assured that we will not experience losses with respect to those deposits. We continually evaluate our deposit investment options in accordance with our corporate investment policy and certain restrictions on permitted investments contained in our Credit Facility.
As of January 31, 2015, February 1, 2014 and February 2, 2013, we had $3.8 million, $2.1 million and $3.0 million, respectively, invested in foreign bank accounts, the majority of which was held in Canadian dollars. As we continue to expand outside of the U.S., we expect to continue to generate cash from non-U.S. operations. We expect to manage our global cash requirements, considering available funds generated by our foreign subsidiaries and the cost effectiveness with which those funds can be accessed. Our intent is to indefinitely reinvest these funds outside of the U.S., however, we will continually review our domestic and foreign cash profile, expected future cash generation and investment opportunities and reassess whether there is a demonstrated need to repatriate funds held internationally to support our U.S. operations.
Off Balance Sheet Arrangements
We do not have any off balance sheet arrangements as defined by Item 303 (a) (4) of Regulation S-K.

30

Contractual Obligations
We have various contractual obligations, some of which are recorded as liabilities in our Consolidated Balance Sheets if the related goods or services were received prior to January 31, 2015. Other items, such as leases, purchase commitments and other contractual obligations represent future liabilities and may not be recognized as liabilities in our Consolidated Balance Sheets.
The following table sets forth our significant contractual obligations as of January 31, 2015:
 
Payments Due by Fiscal Year
 
Total
 
2015
 
2016-2017
 
2018-2019
 
2020
And After
 
(in thousands)
Long-term debt (1)
$
3,383

 
$
1,825

 
$
1,558

 
 
 
 
Capital leases (2)
3,002

 
1,536

 
1,466

 
 
 
 
Operating leases (3)
1,215,588

 
211,182

 
357,479

 
283,880

 
363,047

Purchase obligations:
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Store construction (4)
889

 
889

 
 
 
 
 
 
Merchandise (5)
243,887

 
243,887

 
 
 
 
 
 
Information services (6)
20,263

 
18,460

 
1,803

 
 
 
 
Other (7)
20,312

 
19,449

 
863

 
 
 
 
Total
$
1,507,324

 
$
497,228

 
$
363,169

 
$
283,880

 
$
363,047


(1)
Represents finance arrangements relating to support and maintenance associated with certain computer equipment on our Consolidated Balance Sheet as of January 31, 2015.
(2)
Represents capital leases relating to certain computer equipment and licenses recorded on our Consolidated Balance Sheet as of January 31, 2015.
(3)
Represents future minimum lease payments under non-cancelable operating leases in effect as of January 31, 2015. The minimum lease payments above do not include common area maintenance (“CAM”) charges or real estate taxes due under our store and office operating leases. These charges are generally not fixed and can fluctuate from year to year. Total CAM charges and real estate taxes for Fiscal 2014, Fiscal 2013 and Fiscal 2012 were $89.9 million, $84.4 million and $78.8 million, respectively.
(4)
Represents purchase commitments for Fiscal 2015 store construction not recorded on our Consolidated Balance Sheet as of January 31, 2015.
(5)
Represents open merchandise purchase orders for inventory not yet received or recorded on our Consolidated Balance Sheet as of January 31, 2015.
(6)
Represents outsourcing of certain support functions, consulting, maintenance and license agreements for services to be provided and/or software not yet received or recorded on our Consolidated Balance Sheet as of January 31, 2015.
(7)
Represents contractual commitments or open purchase orders for non-merchandise goods or services not received or recorded on our Consolidated Balance Sheet as of January 31, 2015.
There were no borrowings outstanding under our Credit Facility as of January 31, 2015. The Credit Facility contains a provision for commitment fees related to the unused revolving loan commitment and outstanding letters of credit, which are not included in the above table because these charges are not fixed and can fluctuate from year to year due to various circumstances. Total commitment fees were $0.7 million in each of Fiscal 2014, and Fiscal 2013 and $0.9 million in Fiscal 2012.
The preceding table also excludes approximately $5.6 million of tax reserves accounted for under ASC 740-10, Income Taxes, as we are unable to reasonably estimate the ultimate amount or timing of any settlement. See Note 10, “Income Taxes,” in the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements for further discussion. In addition, as discussed in Note 11, “Retirement Plans,” in the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements, we have a long-term liability for our Pension Plan. Minimum pension funding requirements are not included in the preceding table as such amounts are not readily determinable.
Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates
Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations is based upon our Consolidated Financial Statements, which have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America. Our significant accounting policies are more fully described in Note 1, “Summary of Significant Accounting Policies,” in the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements. The preparation of these Consolidated Financial Statements requires us to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of revenues, expenses, assets and liabilities. Actual results could differ from these estimates.

31

Based on the above, we have determined that our most critical accounting policies are those related to revenue recognition, merchandise inventory valuation, asset impairment, income taxes and stock and performance-based compensation. These policies are also discussed in the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements and in relevant sections of this discussion and analysis.
Revenue Recognition
We record revenue as merchandise is sold to clients. Online and omni-channel sales are recorded as merchandise is shipped to clients based on the date clients receive the merchandise. The various revenue streams under our credit card program are accounted for as a single unit of accounting and recognized as revenue ratably based on the total projected revenues over the term of the underlying agreement. Revenue related to our franchise operations in Mexico is recorded on a net basis, since we operate as an agent and receive a percentage of our franchise partner’s net merchandise sales. Revenue on gift card and merchandise credit sales is recognized when those cards are redeemed by clients or when the likelihood of redemption is considered remote.
Certain judgments and estimates underlie the amount of net revenue recognized in the financial statements. These include:
•
Estimates of future client merchandise returns based upon an analysis of actual historical return patterns and current sales and gross margin rate performance;
•
Estimates of revenue and related expenses under our credit card program using projections of future store counts, applications processed, sales growth and rewards points breakage, among other things; and
•
In cases where we have determined that, under applicable jurisdictional unclaimed property laws, there is no legal obligation to escheat gift cards and/or merchandise credits and the likelihood of redemption is considered remote, we recognize the unredeemed value over time based upon an analysis of actual historical redemption patterns.
Merchandise Inventory Valuation
Merchandise inventories are valued at the lower of average cost or market, at the individual item level. Market is determined based on the estimated net realizable value, which is generally the merchandise selling price. Merchandise inventory levels are monitored to identify slow-moving items and broken assortments (items no longer in stock in a sufficient range of sizes) and markdowns are used to clear such merchandise. Inventory cost is adjusted when the current selling price or future estimated selling price is less than cost. Physical inventory counts are performed annually during the fourth quarter of our fiscal year, typically in January, and estimates are made for any shortage between the date of the physical inventory count and the balance sheet date.
Asset Impairment
Long-lived assets are reviewed periodically for impairment or when events or changes in circumstances indicate that full recoverability of net asset balances through future cash flows is in question. Management estimates future pre-tax cash flows at a store level (undiscounted and without interest charges) based on historical experience, knowledge and market data. Estimates of future cash flows require that we make assumptions and apply judgment, including forecasting future sales, gross margin and expenses. These estimates can be affected by factors such as future store results, real estate demand, and economic conditions that can be difficult to predict, as well as other factors such as those outlined in “Risk Factors.” If the expected future cash flows related to the long-lived assets are less than the assets’ carrying value, an impairment charge would be recognized for the difference between estimated fair value and carrying value.
Income Taxes
We account for income taxes using the asset and liability method. Under the asset and liability method, deferred tax assets and liabilities are recognized based on the differences between the financial statement carrying value of existing assets and liabilities and their respective tax bases. Deferred tax assets and liabilities are measured using enacted tax rates and laws expected to be in effect when the differences are expected to reverse. The effect of a change in tax rates on deferred tax assets and liabilities is recognized in income in the period enacted. Inherent in the measurement of these deferred balances are certain judgments and interpretations of existing tax law and other published guidance as applied to our operations. In determining the need for a valuation allowance on deferred tax assets, we are required to make assumptions and to apply judgment, including forecasting future earnings, taxable income, the mix of earnings in the jurisdictions in which we operate and the application of tax planning strategies. Our effective tax rate considers our judgment of expected tax liabilities in the various jurisdictions within which we are subject to tax.
The tax effects of uncertain tax positions taken or expected to be taken in income tax returns are recognized only if they are “more likely-than-not” to be sustained on examination by the taxing authorities, based on the technical merits as of the reporting date. The tax benefits recognized in the financial statements from such positions are measured based on the largest benefit that has a greater than fifty percent likelihood of being realized upon ultimate settlement. We recognize estimated accrued interest and penalties related to uncertain tax positions in income tax expense.

32

We are currently under examination by certain state and local taxing jurisdictions. Further, at any given time, multiple tax years may be subject to examination by various taxing authorities. The recorded amounts of income tax are subject to adjustment upon examination, changes in interpretation and changes in judgment utilized in determining estimates.
Long-term Performance Compensation
The calculation of long-term performance compensation expense related to our Restricted Cash Program (“RCP”) requires the input of subjective assumptions, including the expected forfeiture of earned and banked awards and forecasts of our future income growth. We estimate forfeitures based on historical RCP forfeiture patterns, as well as future trends of expected behavior. We estimate future income growth based on past performance, future business trends and new business initiatives.
The assumptions used to calculate long-term performance compensation expense represent our best estimates, but these estimates involve inherent uncertainties and the application of management judgment. As a result, if factors change and we were to use different assumptions, the expense recorded could be materially different. If we were to adjust RCP forfeiture rate estimates and the interest rate factors applied to amounts banked under the plan each by 10%, the impact to long-term performance compensation expense would be approximately $2.4 million as related to the forfeiture rates and approximately $1.0 million as related to the interest rate factors.

ITEM 7A.
Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk.
We have significant amounts of cash on deposit at FDIC-insured financial institutions that are currently in excess of federally insured limits, therefore, we cannot be assured that we will not experience losses with respect to those deposits. We continually evaluate our deposit investment options in accordance with our corporate investment policy and certain restrictions on permitted investments contained in our Credit Facility.
We are exposed to limited market risk, primarily related to foreign currency exchange. We have exchange rate exposure primarily with respect to certain revenues and expenses denominated in the Canadian dollar. As of January 31, 2015, the monetary assets and liabilities subject to this exposure are immaterial, therefore, the potential immediate loss that would result from a hypothetical 10% change in foreign currency exchange rates would not be expected to have a material impact on our earnings or cash flows.
AnnTaylor Inc.’s Credit Facility allows for investments in financial instruments with original maturity dates of up to 360 days. As of January 31, 2015, we did not hold any investments that did not qualify as cash.

ITEM 8.
Financial Statements and Supplementary Data.

The following Consolidated Financial Statements of the Company for the years ended January 31, 2015 (52 weeks), February 1, 2014 (52 weeks) and February 2, 2013 (53 weeks) are included as part of this Report (See Item 15):
Consolidated Statements of Operations for the Fiscal Years Ended January 31, 2015 (52 weeks), February 1, 2014 (52 weeks) and February 2, 2013 (53 weeks).
Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income for the Fiscal Years Ended January 31, 2015 (52 weeks), February 1, 2014 (52 weeks) and February 2, 2013 (53 weeks).
Consolidated Balance Sheets as of January 31, 2015 and February 1, 2014.
Consolidated Statements of Stockholders’ Equity for the Fiscal Years Ended January 31, 2015 (52 weeks), February 1, 2014 (52 weeks) and February 2, 2013 (53 weeks).
Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows for the Fiscal Years Ended January 31, 2015 (52 weeks), February 1, 2014 (52 weeks) and February 2, 2013 (53 weeks).
Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements.

ITEM 9.
Changes in and Disagreements with Accountants on Accounting and Financial Disclosure.
None.
 

33

ITEM 9A.
Controls and Procedures.
Disclosure Controls and Procedures
The Company conducted an evaluation, under the supervision and with the participation of management, including the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, of the effectiveness of the design and operation of its disclosure controls and procedures (as such term is defined in Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e) under the Exchange Act) as of the end of the period covered by this Report. Based on such evaluation, the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer concluded that the Company’s disclosure controls and procedures were effective as of the end of the period covered by this Report.
Management’s Report on Internal Control over Financial Reporting
The management of ANN INC. is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting as defined in Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f) under the Exchange Act.
Management assessed the effectiveness of the Company’s internal control over financial reporting as of January 31, 2015 based on the framework and criteria established in Internal Control – Integrated Framework (2013) issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission. Based on this assessment, management concluded that the Company’s internal control over financial reporting was effective as of January 31, 2015.
There were no changes in the Company’s internal control over financial reporting during the Company’s fourth fiscal quarter that have materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, the Company’s internal control over financial reporting.
The Company’s Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm, Deloitte & Touche LLP, issued a report on the Company’s internal control over financial reporting, which is included in the Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm, on page 40.

ITEM 9B.
Other Information.
None.

34

PART III
 
ITEM 10.
Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance.
The information required by this item is incorporated herein by reference to the Sections entitled “Election of Class I Directors,” “Executive Officers,” “Corporate Governance,” “Stockholder Proposals for the 2016 Annual Meeting” and “Section 16(a) Beneficial Ownership Reporting Compliance” in the Company’s Proxy Statement for its 2015 Annual Meeting of Stockholders.
The Company has Business Conduct Guidelines that apply to all its associates, including its chief executive officer, chief financial officer, principal accounting officer and controller, as well as members of the Company’s Board of Directors. The Business Conduct Guidelines are available on the Company’s website at http://investor.anninc.com. Any updates or amendments to the Business Conduct Guidelines, as well as any waiver from the Business Conduct Guidelines granted to an executive officer (including the Company’s chief executive officer, chief financial officer, principal accounting officer and controller), will also be posted on the website.
 
ITEM 11.
Executive Compensation.
The information required by this item is incorporated herein by reference to the Sections entitled “Executive Compensation,” “Director Compensation,” “Compensation Committee Interlocks and Insider Participation” and “Compensation Committee Report” in the Company’s Proxy Statement for its 2015 Annual Meeting of Stockholders.

ITEM 12.
Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Stockholder Matters.
The information required by this item is presented below and incorporated herein by reference to the Section entitled “Beneficial Ownership of Common Stock” in the Company’s Proxy Statement for its 2015 Annual Meeting of Stockholders.
The following table sets forth information with respect to shares of the Company’s common stock that may be issued under the Company’s existing equity compensation plans, as of January 31, 2015:
  
(a)
 
(b)
 
(c)
 
Plan Category
Number of Securities
to be Issued Upon
Exercise of  Outstanding
Options, Warrants and Rights (1)
 
Weighted Average
Exercise Price of
Outstanding Options,
Warrants and Rights (1)
 
Number of Securities
Remaining Available
for Future Issuance Under Equity
Compensation Plans
(Excluding Securities
Reflected in  Column (a))
 
Equity compensation plans approved by security holders (2)
1,551,497

 
$
27.10

 
4,171,865

(3
)
Equity compensation plans not approved by security holders (4)
145,726

 
16.22

 
—

  
Total
1,697,223

 
$
26.17

 
4,171,865

  
 
(1)
Includes performance-vesting restricted stock awards which are stated at 100% of target. For Fall 2014, less than 100% of such shares were earned based on actual performance.
(2)
Consists of the 2003 Equity Incentive Plan and the Associate Discount Stock Purchase Plan (“ADSPP”).
(3)
Includes 1,289,633 shares of Common Stock available for issuance under the ADSPP.
(4)
Relates to the 2002 Stock Option and Restricted Stock and Unit Award Plan.
See Note 9, “Equity and Incentive Compensation Plans,” in the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements for a description of the material features of these plans.

ITEM 13.
Certain Relationships and Related Transactions, and Director Independence.
The information required by this item is incorporated herein by reference to the Sections entitled “Related Person Transactions,” “Related Person Transactions Policy and Procedures” and “Corporate Governance” in the Company’s Proxy Statement for its 2015 Annual Meeting of Stockholders. 

35


ITEM 14.
Principal Accounting Fees and Services.
The information required by this item is incorporated herein by reference to the Section entitled “Ratification of the Appointment of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm” in the Company’s Proxy Statement for its 2015 Annual Meeting of Stockholders.


36

PART IV
 
ITEM 15.
Exhibits and Financial Statement Schedules.

(a)
List of documents filed as part of this Annual Report:
1.The following Consolidated Financial Statements of the Company are filed as part of this Annual Report:
Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm;
Consolidated Statements of Operations for the Fiscal Years Ended January 31, 2015 (52 weeks), February 1, 2014 (52 weeks) and February 2, 2013 (53 weeks);
Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income for the Fiscal Years Ended January 31, 2015 (52 weeks), February 1, 2014 (52 weeks) and February 2, 2013 (53 weeks);
Consolidated Balance Sheets as of January 31, 2015 and February 1, 2014;
Consolidated Statements of Stockholders’ Equity for the Fiscal Years Ended January 31, 2015 (52 weeks), February 1, 2014 (52 weeks) and February 2, 2013 (53 weeks);
Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows for the Fiscal Years Ended January 31, 2015 (52 weeks), February 1, 2014 (52 weeks) and February 2, 2013 (53 weeks); and
Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements.
2.Schedules other than the above have been omitted because they are not applicable.
3.The exhibits filed as a part of this Annual Report are listed in the Exhibit Index.

(b)
The exhibits listed in the Exhibit Index attached hereto are filed as part of this Annual Report and incorporated herein by reference.
(c)
Not applicable.


37

SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements of Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.
 
 
 
 
ANN INC.
 
 
By:
 
/s/     Kay Krill
 
 
Kay Krill
 
 
President and Chief Executive Officer
Date: March 13, 2015
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, this report has been signed below by the following persons on behalf of the registrant and in the capacities and on the dates indicated.
 
/s/   Kay Krill
 
President, Chief Executive Officer and Director
(Principal Executive Officer)
March 13, 2015
Kay Krill
 
Date
/s/   Michael J. Nicholson
 
Executive Vice President, Chief Operating Officer, Chief Financial Officer, and Treasurer
(Principal Financial Officer and Principal Accounting Officer)
March 13, 2015
Michael J. Nicholson
 
Date
/s/   Ronald W. Hovsepian
 
Non-Executive Chairman of the Board and Director
March 13, 2015
Ronald W. Hovsepian
 
Date
/s/   Katie J. Bayne
 
Director
March 13, 2015
Katie J. Bayne
 
Date
/s/   James J. Burke, Jr.
 
Director
March 13, 2015
James J. Burke, Jr.
 
Date
/s/   Dale W. Hilpert
 
Director
March 13, 2015
       Dale W. Hilpert
 
Date
/s/   Linda A. Huett
 
Director
March 13, 2015
Linda A. Huett
 
Date
/s/   Michael C. Plansky
 
Director
March 13, 2015
       Michael C. Plansky
 
Date
/s/   Stacey Rauch
 
Director
March 13, 2015
       Stacey Rauch
 
Date
/s/   Daniel W. Yih
 
Director
March 13, 2015
       Daniel W. Yih
 
Date

38
ANN INC.
INDEX TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS


 
Page No.
 
 
 
 
Consolidated Financial Statements:
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

39

REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM
To the Board of Directors and Stockholders of
ANN INC.
New York, NY
We have audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheets of ANN INC. and its subsidiaries (the “Company”) as of January 31, 2015 and February 1, 2014, and the related consolidated statements of operations, comprehensive income, stockholders’ equity and cash flows for each of the three fiscal years in the period ended January 31, 2015. We also have audited the Company’s internal control over financial reporting as of January 31, 2015, based on criteria established in Internal Control — Integrated Framework (2013) issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission. The Company’s management is responsible for these financial statements, for maintaining effective internal control over financial reporting, and for its assessment of the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting, included in the accompanying Management’s Report on Internal Control over Financial Reporting. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on these financial statements and an opinion on the Company’s internal control over financial reporting based on our audits.
We conducted our audits in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States). Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement and whether effective internal control over financial reporting was maintained in all material respects. Our audits of the financial statements included examining, on a test basis, evidence supporting the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements, assessing the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, and evaluating the overall financial statement presentation. Our audit of internal control over financial reporting included obtaining an understanding of internal control over financial reporting, assessing the risk that a material weakness exists, and testing and evaluating the design and operating effectiveness of internal control based on the assessed risk. Our audits also included performing such other procedures as we considered necessary in the circumstances. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinions.
A company’s internal control over financial reporting is a process designed by, or under the supervision of, the company’s principal executive and principal financial officers, or persons performing similar functions, and effected by the company’s board of directors, management, and other personnel to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. A company’s internal control over financial reporting includes those policies and procedures that (1) pertain to the maintenance of records that, in reasonable detail, accurately and fairly reflect the transactions and dispositions of the assets of the company; (2) provide reasonable assurance that transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, and that receipts and expenditures of the company are being made only in accordance with authorizations of management and directors of the company; and (3) provide reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely detection of unauthorized acquisition, use, or disposition of the company’s assets that could have a material effect on the financial statements.
Because of the inherent limitations of internal control over financial reporting, including the possibility of collusion or improper management override of controls, material misstatements due to error or fraud may not be prevented or detected on a timely basis. Also, projections of any evaluation of the effectiveness of the internal control over financial reporting to future periods are subject to the risk that the controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or that the degree of compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate.
In our opinion, the consolidated financial statements referred to above present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of ANN INC. and its subsidiaries as of January 31, 2015 and February 1, 2014, and the results of their operations and their cash flows for each of the three fiscal years in the period ended January 31, 2015, in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America. Also, in our opinion, the Company maintained, in all material respects, effective internal control over financial reporting as of January 31, 2015, based on the criteria established in Internal Control — Integrated Framework (2013) issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission.
/s/    DELOITTE & TOUCHE LLP
New York, New York
March 13, 2015

40
ANN INC.
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS

For Fiscal Years Ended January 31, 2015, February 1, 2014 and February 2, 2013
 
 
Fiscal Year Ended
 
January 31,
2015
 
February 1,
2014
 
February 2,
2013
 
(in thousands, except per share amounts)
Net sales
$
2,533,460

 
$
2,493,491

 
$
2,375,509

Cost of sales
1,242,506

 
1,150,183

 
1,073,167

Gross margin
1,290,954

 
1,343,308

 
1,302,342

Selling, general and administrative expenses
1,161,838

 
1,173,234

 
1,135,551

Restructuring charge
17,303

 
—

 
—

Operating income
111,813

 
170,074

 
166,791

Interest and investment income/(expense), net
(363
)
 
(94
)
 
1,051

Other non-operating expense, net
(835
)
 
(17
)
 
(189
)
Income before income taxes
110,615

 
169,963

 
167,653

Income tax provision
42,635

 
67,533

 
65,068

Net income
$
67,980

 
$
102,430

 
$
102,585

Earnings per share:
 
 
 
 
 
Basic earnings per share
$
1.47

 
$
2.21

 
$
2.13

 


 


 
 
Weighted average shares outstanding
45,172

 
45,490

 
47,494

 


 


 
 
Diluted earnings per share
$
1.46

 
$
2.19

 
$
2.10

 


 


 
 
Weighted average shares outstanding, assuming dilution
45,608

 
45,955

 
48,094

















See accompanying Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements.

41
ANN INC.
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF COMPREHENSIVE INCOME

For Fiscal Years Ended January 31, 2015, February 1, 2014 and February 2, 2013
 
 
Fiscal Year Ended
 
January 31,
2015
 
February 1,
2014
 
February 2,
2013
 
(in thousands)
Net income
$
67,980

 
$
102,430

 
$
102,585

 
 
 
 
 
 
Other comprehensive income/(loss):
 
 
 
 
 
Foreign currency translation gain/(loss)
(1,140
)
 
(1,309
)
 
19

Net change in employee benefit plans:
 
 
 
 
 
   Net actuarial gain/(loss)
(3,097
)
 
4,156

 
(1,153
)
   Pension settlement charge
129

 
—

 
1,760

   Amortization of net actuarial loss
—

 
600

 
726

Other comprehensive income/(loss), before tax
(4,108
)
 
3,447

 
1,352

Income tax expense/(benefit) on other comprehensive income items
(1,277
)
 
1,824

 
531

Other comprehensive income/(loss), net of tax
(2,831
)
 
1,623

 
821

Comprehensive income
$
65,149

 
$
104,053

 
$
103,406






















See accompanying Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements.

42
ANN INC.
CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS

January 31, 2015 and February 1, 2014
 
 
January 31,
2015
 
February 1,
2014
 
(in thousands, except share amounts)
Assets
 
Current assets
 
 
 
Cash
$
207,711

 
$
201,707

Accounts receivable
20,360

 
22,448

Merchandise inventories
265,022

 
239,667

Refundable income taxes
9,270

 
7,252

Deferred income taxes
26,046

 
28,854

Prepaid expenses and other current assets
72,489

 
61,287

Total current assets
600,898

 
561,215

Property and equipment, net
426,729

 
443,086

Deferred income taxes
12,119

 
6,599

Other assets
21,760

 
22,060

Total assets
$
1,061,506

 
$
1,032,960

Liabilities and Stockholders’ Equity
 
 
 
Current liabilities
 
 
 
Accounts payable
$
134,031

 
$
101,276

Accrued salaries and bonus
20,268

 
24,546

Current portion of long-term performance compensation
5,838

 
20,339

Accrued tenancy
36,907

 
38,331

Gift certificates and merchandise credits redeemable
49,146

 
48,150

Accrued expenses and other current liabilities
85,298

 
97,101

Total current liabilities
331,488

 
329,743

Deferred lease costs
149,658

 
164,703

Deferred income taxes
—

 
36

Long-term performance compensation, less current portion
11,601

 
15,456

Other liabilities
58,081

 
54,566

 
 
 
 
Commitments and contingencies

 

 
 
 
 
Stockholders’ equity
 
 
 
Common stock, $.0068 par value; 200,000,000 shares authorized; 82,563,516 shares issued
561

 
561

Additional paid-in capital
749,711

 
751,765

Retained earnings
847,252

 
779,272

Accumulated other comprehensive loss
(5,705
)
 
(2,874
)
Treasury stock, 36,844,722 and 36,344,643 shares, respectively, at cost
(1,081,141
)
 
(1,060,268
)
Total stockholders’ equity
510,678

 
468,456

Total liabilities and stockholders’ equity
$
1,061,506

 
$
1,032,960





See accompanying Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements.

43
ANN INC.
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY

For Fiscal Years Ended January 31, 2015, February 1, 2014 and February 2, 2013
 
 
 
Additional
Paid-in
Capital
 
Retained
Earnings
 
Accumulated
Other
Comprehensive
Loss
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Common Stock
 
Treasury Stock
 
 
 
Shares
 
Amount
 
Shares
 
Amount
 
Total
 
(in thousands)