The TJX Companies, Inc. (TJX) on Thursday reported an 8 percent increase in comparable store sales in April, motivating the discount retailer to raise the lower end of its first quarter guidance.
For the four-week period ended May 4, sales totaled $2.0 billion, up 9 percent over the $1.8 billion recorded during the four-week period ended April 28, 2012. Consolidated comparable store sales grew by 8 percent, driven by increases in customer traffic. TJX said in a statement that customers responded to “our extremely fresh selections of branded spring apparel.”
The Farmington, Massachusetts-based company also said that for the 13-week period ended May 4, sales equaled $6.2 billion, up 7 percent to the 13-week period ended April 28, 2012. Comparable store sales for this time frame also showed an 8 percent increase.
The monthly and quarterly rise in same-store-sales topped corporate expectations.
TJX operates retail stores under brands names TJ Maxx, Marshalls, Homegoods and Sierra Trading Post in the United States. The company also operates locations in Canada under the names Winners, HomeSense and Marshalls in addition to TK Maxx and HomeSense in Europe.
The better-than-expected sales figures resulted in TJX narrowing their first-quarter earnings per share outlook to between 61 cents and 62 cents. In April, the company said it expected EPS between 60 cents and 62 cents for the quarter.
“This would represent a very solid increase over last year’s first quarter, which had the highest EPS growth of that year,” said Carol Meyrowitz, chief executive of The TJX Companies. “As we enter the second quarter, May is off to a strong start and our inventory levels are in an excellent position for us to buy into the enormous amount of quality opportunities we are seeing in the marketplace,” she added.
Joining a growing trend of companies ceasing to report same-store-sales on a monthly basis, Thursday’s report was the last time TJX will provide monthly sales stats. Going forward, reporting will only be done on a quarterly basis.
First-quarter results are expected to be delivered on Tuesday, May 21 before the opening bell, which will be followed by a call with analysts and Carol Meyrowitz.
Shares of TJX are continuing their upward march with the sales results from April. Shares have advanced about 20 percent so far in 2013, including a rise of nearly 1 percent to around $51 in Thursday action.
