Macy’s Inc. posted a higher-than-expected profit after sales surged during the holiday quarter, and the department store chain forecast continued gains this year.
For its new fiscal year, Macy’s expects sales at stores open at least a year to rise 3 percent. It forecast earnings of between $2.25 and $2.30 a share, which would be an increase from the just-ended year.
Chief Executive Officer Terry Lundgren credited the company’s decentralization of sourcing, which allows regional managers to choose merchandise according to local tastes. He said those efforts were at an early stage.
Shares of Macy’s were up 5 cents at $23.80 in premarket trading.
Among major retailers, Macy’s has reported some of the largest sales gains in the past year as shoppers more confident about their finances and jobs have traded back up to mid-tier department stores.
The company’s Bloomingdale’s chain, which accounts for about 10 percent of revenue, has also benefited from the recovery in luxury spending in the United States.
Macy’s operates about 800 namesake department stores and 45 Bloomingdale’s stores, as well as four Bloomingdale’s outlets.
The company reported net income of $667 million, or $1.55 a share, for the fourth quarter ended on Jan. 29, up nearly 50 percent from $445 million, or $1.05 a share, a year earlier.
Excluding one-time items, earnings were $1.57 per share, compared with analysts’ expectations of $1.52, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
Same-store sales rose 4.3 percent, as Macy’s previously reported. Overall sales rose 5.4 percent to $8.27 billion.
