Thursday, Ulta Salon, Cosmetics & Fragrance, Inc. (ULTA) said its comparable same store sales increased 7.9% for the seven-week holiday period from November 15, 2009 to January 2, 2010. The company also raised its guidance for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2009 .
Comparable store sales for the holiday period increased 7.9%, compared to a 5.8% decrease in the year-ago period; resulting in a two-year comparable store sales increase of 2.1%. Ulta Salon attributed the increase to its holiday marketing initiatives.
Total net sales for the seven-week holiday period increased substantially by 18.2% to $262.2 million from $221.9 million last year.
Looking ahead, the company expects fourth-quarter earnings per share in the range of $0.28 to $0.30, as compared to its earlier EPS guidance of $0.22 to $0.26. On an average, 10 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected earnings of $0.26 for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude one-time items.
Ulta Salon also increased its fourth-quarter net sales guidance to $388 million to $392 million from the earlier guidance of $362 million to $376 million. Wall Street expects the company to report sales of $374.78 million for the fourth quarter. The company also expects comparable same store sales in the range of 4% to 5%, as compared to previous expectation of 1% to 3%.
Lyn Kirby, President and CEO, Ulta, said, "The combination of dynamic marketing, compelling offerings and enticing value drove an 8.8% increase in customer traffic which led to a better-than-expected performance for the holiday season. The period also benefited from a less promotional gift-giving environment across retail versus last year, especially in apparel. As a result, we improved our merchandise margin and leveraged our marketing spend as a percentage of net sales, as compared to last year. Based on our holiday results, we have raised our fourth quarter expectations for sales and earnings."
ULTA is currently trading at $20.88, up $1.66 or 8.64%, on a volume of 900,675 shares on the Nasdaq.
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