Department store chain Kohl's Corp. (KSS) Thursday reported better-than-expected earnings for its first quarter, while revenues marginally declined and missed view. However, the company forecast second-quarter sales growth of 1 to 3 percent and comparable store sales growth of up to 2 percent. According to the firm, sales increased considerably in April as weather improved in most of its weather-sensitive regions. In pre-market trading, the shares are currently up about 6 percent.
In the first quarter, the company's net income declined to $147 million from $154 million in the previous year. Earnings per share, however, increased to $0.66 from $0.63 per share, on lower share count.
On average, 20 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to earn $0.58 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.
Net sales for the quarter declined 1 percent to $4.20 billion, which also came below analysts' estimate of $4.29 billion.
Comparable store sales declined 1.9 percent, compared to a growth of 0.2 percent last year. Comparable store sales is a key retail industry performance metric for sales at stores open for at least a year.
Kevin Mansell, chairman, president and chief executive officer of the company said, "After a slow start, sales improved considerably in April as the weather finally improved in our most weather-sensitive regions. Despite the lower than expected sales, we outperformed our earnings guidance as gross margin results and expense management were better than expected."
Looking ahead to the second quarter, the company expects earnings per share to be in the range of $1.00 to $1.08 per share. The guidance is based on total sales growth of 1 to 3 percent and comparable store sales growth of 0 to 2 percent. The forecast also includes expected second quarter share repurchases of $250 million, Kohl's noted.
Analysts expect the company to report earnings of $1.05 per share for the second-quarter.
On Wednesday, Kohl's board declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.35 per share, to shareholders of record on June 12, 2013, payable on June 26.
Kohl's ended the quarter with 1,155 stores in 49 states, compared with 1,134 stores at the same time last year.
KSS closed Wednesday's regular trading at $49.68 on the NYSE. In the pre-market activity, the shares are up 6.48 percent.
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