New York: Macy's Inc, the second-biggest US department-store chain, posted a profit in the fourth quarter after holding down expenses and benefiting from a tax settlement.
Net income totalled $466 million (Dh1.7 billion), or $1.10 a share, in the three months ended January 30, the Cincinnati-based company said yesterday in a statement. Sales at stores open at least a year declined 0.8 per cent, in line with a preliminary report this month. Total sales lost 1.1 per cent to $7.85 billion.
This year, sales may rise as much as two per cent at established stores and earnings may range from $1.55 to $1.60, Macy's forecast. Analysts had put that figure at $1.59, the average of 16 estimates compiled by Bloomberg.
Macy's climbed 11 cents to $18.58 at 8.38am, before the start of regular US trading. The shares climbed 62 per cent last year on the New York Stock Exchange.
Gross margin — the fraction of sales left after subtracting the cost of goods sold — expanded to 41.7 per cent. During last year's holiday quarter, the margin contracted to 39.3 per cent from 41.6 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2007. Expenses fell two per cent.
The tax settlement came to $21 million, or five cents a share, Macy's said. Excluding the cost of store closings and an asset writedown, fourth-quarter profit totalled $1.40 a share, the company said.
A year earlier, Macy's had a quarterly net loss of $4.77 billion, or $11.33 a share, after writing down the value of its assets.
