Macy's, Inc. (M) reported that its third-quarter net loss was $35 million or $0.08 per share, compared to a loss of $44 million or $0.10 per share in the same quarter last year.
Excluding restructuring costs, net loss for the quarter was $0.03 per share, compared to a loss of $0.08 per share in the same quarter last year. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report a loss of $0.07 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.
Sales for the third quarter were $5.277 billion, down 3.9% from $5.493 billion in the third quarter of 2008. Ten analysts had consensus revenue estimate of $5.25 billion for the quarter. On a same-store basis, Macy's, Inc.'s third quarter sales were down 3.6%.
The company currently expects same-store sales to be down 1% to 2% in the fourth quarter of 2009, which calculates to down 2.1% to 2.6% in the second half of 2009. This is better than previous guidance for second half same-store sales to be down 5% to 6%.
At the level of current guidance for the fourth quarter, full-year 2009 same-store sales are expected to be down between 5.4% and 5.7% - better than the company's original guidance, provided at the beginning of the year, for fiscal 2009 same-store sales to be down between 6% and 8 %.
Macy's. is assuming fourth quarter earnings per share on a diluted basis will be $1.00 to $1.05 per share, excluding restructuring-related costs. At the level of current guidance for the fourth quarter, full-year 2009 diluted earnings per share will be $1.01 to $1.06, excluding restructuring-related costs. This is an increase from previous guidance for $0.70 to $0. 80 per share on the same basis. Analysts expect the company to report earnings of $1.11 per share for fiscal 2009.
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