US retailers post mixed results for November
Thursday, December 01, 2005 11:31:35 AM ET
NEW YORK, December 1 (newratings.com) – The November sales results released by many US retailers on Thursday indicated mixed trends, while suggesting a modest start to the holiday season.
The world's largest retailer, Wal-Mart (WMT), posted 4.3% same-store sales growth for the month of November, in-line with the Thomson Financial forecast. The company's total sales rose 9.4% during the month. The same-store sales of Costco (COST), BJ's Wholesale (BJ), ShopKo Stores (SKO), Nordstrom's (JWN) and Federated Department Stores Inc (FD) were short of the expectations for November. JC Penney (JCP), Gap Inc (GPS), and Limited Brands Inc (LTD) posted better-than-expected same-store sales for November.
According to Bloomberg, the sales of department stores were adversely affected by warm weather conditions during November, which caused weak sales of sweaters and coats, while retailers struggled to compete with the aggressive promotional campaign by Wal-Mart.
Target Corp (TGT), which achieved its reduced sales guidance for November, said that it expects better sales in December. Ken Perkins, president of Retail Metrics LLC, said that the overall November results were disappointing. Associated Press said that retail stock analysts expressed their optimism regarding the holiday season sales, since gasoline prices have declined from their September highs. According to Reuters, analysts and retailers are optimistic about the holiday season sales, since sales grew significantly just before Christmas last year.
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