April Same-Store Sales A Mixed Bag In The Early Going
May 03 2012 - 7:31AM
Dow Jones News
Retailers are delivering mixed sales for April, with Limited
Brands Inc. (LTD) once again a standout while Costco Wholesale
Corp. (COST) fell short of expectations for a second straight
month.
The month was expected to show some slowdown after an early
Easter set up a powerful showing in March, but April was also hit
by colder weather in the last half of the month and gasoline prices
that ratcheted higher. Retailers were also up against some big
numbers from a year ago because Easter fell much later in April,
supplying solid demand virtually throughout the month.
Given last year's later Easter, "it's tough to compare the
numbers we're getting today," said Madison Riley managing director
at Kurt Salmon. "My sense is we're generally seeing solid gains
because the consumer is feeling better, and that could be a good
indicator for the summer."
Costco's U.S. same-store sales excluding fuel rose 4%, when
analysts were expecting 4.9%. In March, the mass merchant, which
has been lowering prices to combat competition, reported a 5% gain
in the U.S. excluding gas, when 5.7% was expected. "While a slowing
contribution from (customer) traffic growth has been more than
offset by average transaction increases over the past year or so,
that appears to have reversed this quarter," said Robert Carroll,
retail analyst at UBS.
Limited Brands, operator of Victoria's Secret and Bath &
Body Works, narrowed first-quarter guidance to the high end of its
projection after issuing April same-store sales that beat
expectations, coming in with a 6% gain, when a 4% rise was
predicted.
Stage Stores Inc. (SSI) posted a 1% drop in same-store sales
when analyst were looking for a 4.8% decline. The department store
chain said it saw comparable-store sales increases in its
cosmetics, home and gifts, junior's, misses sportswear and petites
categories during the month. Geographically, the Mid Atlantic,
Midwest, Northeast, South Central and Southwest regions all had
comparable store sales gains.
"We expected April to be challenging given the negative impact
of the Easter calendar shift and the timing shift of our Mother's
Day event to May this year from April last year," Chief Executive
Michael Glazer said. "However, April results were better than
anticipated and, as a result, we exceeded our comparable store
sales expectations for the quarter."
Among teen retailers, Zumiez Inc. (ZUMZ) reported a 10.1% rise
in same-store sales when 6.8% was expected. The gain came on top of
17.5% growth in April a year ago.
Wet Seal Inc. (WTSLA) posted a 9.6% drop in comparable-store
sales when a 9% decline was expected. And Buckle Inc. (BKE)
same-store sales gained 1%, when a 0.9 rise was projected.
April same-store sales are expected to rise 3% for the 18
retailers that report figures, according to analysts polled by
Thomson Reuters. The 3% compares with 11.1% a year ago when Easter
fell on April 24 and is on the bottom of the range that retailers
have been reporting so far this year. For March and April combined,
to show the shift of the Easter holiday to early April this year,
retailers are expected to report a 5.4% gain. The growth is down
from a 6.4% rise over the same two months last year.
-By Karen Talley, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2196;
karen.talley@dowjones.com
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