J. Jill’s Q4 web sales grew 10% while total sales are up 4%

Internet-based sales at J. Jill Group Inc. grew 10% in the fourth quarter to $21.2 million from $19.3 million in 2003’s Q4, the company reports. Total sales grew 4% to $119.4 million from $114.9 million in the year-earlier quarter. The web accounted for 17.8% of sales in Q4 vs. 16.8% a year earlier. The company had a Q4 net income of $2.6 million vs. $3.2 million a year earlier.

For the fiscal year ended Dec. 31, web sales grew 16.8% to $80.6 million from $69 million at year-end 2003 while total sales grew 15.4% to $434.9 million from $376.9 million. The web accounted for 18.5% of all sales vs. 18.3% a year earlier. For the year, the company earned $8.7 million vs. $7 million in 2003.

Catalog sales declined in both the quarter and the fiscal year, down 22.7% to $24.8 million for the quarter from $32.1 million in 2003’s Q4 and 12.3% to $110.5 million for the year from $126 million a year earlier. Catalog accounted for 20.8% of sales in fourth quarter vs. 27.9% a year earlier and 25.4% of sales for year-end 2004 vs. 33.4% for 2003.