Thursday, Fashion specialty retailer Cato Corp. (CATO) reported a more than two-fold increase in profit for the third quarter, helped by a 6% rise in sales. Cato also reiterated its earlier issued fourth quarter guidance for earnings, while raising its full year earnings per share view.
The Charlotte, North Carolina-based company's third quarter net income rose by 262% to $2.98 million from $0.82 million a year ago. Earnings per share for the third quarter were $0.10, up by 233% from $0.03 last year.
Quarterly sales for the third quarter increased by 6% to $190.97 million from $179.84 million for the same period last year. Same store stores for the fourth quarter rose by more than 4%, the company said.
Gross margin improved to $66.42 million from $52.67 million a year-ago. Cost and expenses rose modestly to $189.55 million from $181.51 million for the year earlier period.
For the nine month period, net income rose to $38.46 million or $1.31 per share from $29.77 million or $1.01 per share for the year earlier period. Total revenues for the period increased to $663.11 million from $645.48 million for the year-ago period.
Looking ahead for the fourth quarter, the company maintained its earlier issued earnings guidance expectation in the range of $0.08 to $0.13 per share .
John Cato, Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer said, "..However, we recognize that much uncertainty still exists for our customers in this economic environment. Due to this uncertainty, we continue to estimate that same-store sales for the fourth quarter will be in the range of down 3% to flat."
For the full year, the company raised its earnings guidance and now expects earnings in the range of $1.38 to $1.43 per share, up from the prior range of $1.21 to $1.29 per share.
CATO is currently trading down by more than $20.50, down $0.63 or 2.98% on a volume of 0.08 million shares on NYSE.
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