Discount duress: Dollar Tree says high freight costs will dent earnings
Discount chain Dollar Tree reeled in its outlook for fiscal 2021, citing escalating freight costs as the reason. The Chesapeake, Virginia-based retailer said it has started to book its own ocean vessels amid a tight capacity environment and will look for merchandise suppliers outside of Asia to mitigate transportation expenses going forward.
“We’re optimizing which China and U.S. ports we use to take advantage of the shipping availability,” Michael Witynski, president and CEO, told analysts on a Thursday conference call. “We are confident that our teams will allow us to navigate through this period of global supply chain challenges.”
Dollar Tree (NASDAQ: DLTR) said elevated transportation expenses will drag down full-year earnings by $1.50 to $1.60 per share compared to last year. The update assumes an additional freight spend of $185 million to $200 million (60 cents to 65 cents per share) above the prior…
