TJX Stores See Sales Rise -- WSJ

By Allison Prang

This article is being republished as part of our daily reproduction of WSJ.com articles that also appeared in the U.S. print edition of The Wall Street Journal (February 28, 2019).

TJX Cos. on Wednesday reported a decline in fourth-quarter profit, but said that stronger customer traffic led to an increase in comparable-store sales.

TJX, the parent company of HomeGoods, Marshalls and T.J. Maxx, reported net income fell 4.1% from a year earlier to $841.5 million, or 68 cents a share. Analysts polled by Refinitiv were expecting a profit of 68 cents a share. The company's income tax bill was 43% higher than in the previous year.

Net sales rose 1.5% to $11.13 billion, ahead of the $11 billion analysts were expecting. Sales climbed in the U.S. but fell in international divisions. When adjusting for currency fluctuations, TJX said sales rose in both international divisions.

Comparable-store sales rose 6% in the quarter featuring the holiday shopping season. Analysts polled by Consensus Metrix were expecting an increase of 3.5%.

Chief Executive Ernie Herrman said in prepared remarks that the company's apparel and home categories were strong and that more customer traffic helped spur the comparable-sales growth.

TJX expects earnings for the current fiscal year to be between $2.55 and $2.60 a share, up from $2.43 a share earned in the year ended Feb. 2. Higher wages and freight costs are expected to put a damper on earnings growth, TJX said.

Comparable sales are expected to rise between 2% and 3%, but that range is less than the 6% growth obtained in the prior year and 4% growth in the year before that.

The company said it intends to increase its dividend to 23 cents from 19.5 cents. TJX also plans to buy back between about $1.75 billion and $2.25 billion of its shares during this fiscal year.

Shares rose 0.7% to $50.07 in Wednesday trading.

Write to Allison Prang at allison.prang@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 28, 2019 02:47 ET (07:47 GMT)

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