NEW YORK (Reuters) - TJX posted a higher quarterly profit on Tuesday as cash-strapped shoppers headed to its stores for deals on clothes, and the off-price retailer and raised its full-year earnings forecast.
The latest quarter's results included a charge of 2 cents per share, while its year-ago results included a charge of 25 cents per share due to a massive computer system security breach.
The operator of chains including T.J. Maxx, Marshalls, HomeGoods and A.J. Wright said profit rose to $200.22 million, or 45 cents per share, for the fiscal second quarter ended July 26, from $59.03 million, or 13 cents per share, a year earlier.
Excluding the charge, TJX's adjusted earnings per share were 47 cents for the latest quarter, matching Wall Street's view for earnings of 47 cents per share, according to Reuters Estimates.
Net sales rose 7% to $4.6 billion, while comparable store sales, or sales at stores open at least a year, rose 4%.
TJX has not been hit as hard as other retailers by the weak U.S. economy as consumers trade down and search out deals to save money amid rising gasoline and food prices.
Last week the retailer, which buys excess merchandise in bulk at below-wholesale prices, posted a 3% rise in July same-store sales. That was slightly below Wall Street estimates, but it raised its profit forecast for the second quarter.
(Reporting by Nicole Maestri, editing by Gerald E. McCormick and Derek Caney)
(c) Reuters 2008. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by caching, framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters and the Reuters sphere logo are registered trademarks and trademarks of the Reuters group of companies around the world.
Comment on this article
Only registered users can write comments. Please login or register.