Thursday, specialty retailer The Cato Corp.(CTR) reported a 3% decline in same-store sales for the month of July, citing the negative impact of the effect of last year's stimulus checks early in the month and by the shift of tax-free weekends from fiscal July to fiscal August.
The Charlotte, North Carolina-based company said sales for the four weeks ended August 1 were $60.4 million, down 3% from sales of $62.1 million in the same month of the previous year.
John Cato, chairman, president, and chief executive officer, Cato Corp. said that without the impact of the aforementioned issues, July same-store sales would have remained within its expected range of flat to down 3%.
The company expects the shift of the tax-free weekends to benefit August results.
Sales for the second quarter ended August 1, were $225.4 million, down 2% from $231.0 million in the second quarter of the previous year. Second quarter same-store sales decreased 3%.
For the six-month period, sales were $463.4 million, a 1% increase over the prior year's first half sales of $456.7 million. Same-store sales for the first half were flat compared to first half 2008.
Looking ahead, the company said that it expects second quarter earnings to be near the high end of its previous guidance range of $0.48 to $0.54 per share. In the prior-year quarter, the company earned $0.41 per share. Currently, two Street analysts expect the company to report earnings of $0.53 per share for the quarter.
The company plans to announce results for the second quarter on August 20.
As of August 1, Cato operated 1,285 stores in 31 states, compared to 1,287 stores in 31 states as of August 2, 2008.
CTR is currently trading at $19.61, up 0.77% on the NYSE.
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