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May meets lowered mark
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November 8, 1999: 10:59 a.m. ET
Retailer posts record 3Q results; weak October sales diminish gain
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - May Department Stores Co. reported record third-quarter earnings Monday, but only met recently lowered analysts' estimates.
The St. Louis-based owner of 11 different retailers -- including Lord & Taylor, Foley's, Filene's, Hecht's, Strawbridge's, Robinsons-May, Famous-Barr and L.S. Ayres -- posted net income of $138 million, or 38 cents a diluted share, in the fiscal third quarter that ended Oct. 30.
First Call, which surveys analysts' estimates, lowered its lowered consensus estimate for the period Friday to 38 cents a share from 39 cents, the day after the company announced that same-store sales had fallen 2 percent in October. As recently as Oct. 26, the First Call estimate had been for 40 cents a share in the period.
In the year-earlier period, the company had net income of $130 million, or 35 cents a share.
Revenue for May (MAY) rose 5 percent to $3.2 billion, as net retail sales climbed 5.4 percent and same-store sales rose 1.1 percent in the period. May discontinued its consumer electronics business at the beginning of the year, hurting revenue by about 1 percent throughout the year.
For the first nine months of its fiscal year, net income was $414 million, or $1.15 a diluted share, up 11.6 percent from the $371 million, or 99 cents a share, it made in the same period a year earlier. Revenue was up 7.3 percent to $9.4 billion in the period, as retail sales rose 7.5% and same-store sales climbed 3.1%.
The company's October sales trailed other major retailers, which generally saw healthy same-store sales increases in the period. The company announced Oct. 15 it was buying a Salt Lake City-based chain, Zions Co-operative Mercantile Institution, for $52 million in a deal expected to close in this quarter.
The stock gained 5/16 to 33-3/4 in early Monday trading.
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