Ross Stores Earns $1.07 Per Share

Not much of a surprise here. Ross Stores ($ROST) previously said that earnings would range between $1.06 and $1.07 per share. When the range is like that, you can be pretty sure it’s not a guess. For fiscal Q4, Ross earned $1.07 per share. That’s up from 85 cents per share last year. Q4 sales rose 15% to $2.761 billion. Comparable stores sales were up by 5%.

Overall, this was a very good year for Ross. For the year, Ross earned $3.53 per share which was up from $2.86 per share last year. Sales rose 13% to $9.721 billion. Same-store sales were up by 6%.

Michael Balmuth, Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, commented, “We are pleased with the record sales and earnings we delivered in the fourth quarter and 2012 fiscal year, especially considering they were achieved on top of strong multi-year gains. Results for both periods benefited from our ongoing ability to deliver compelling bargains on a wide assortment of exciting name brand fashions for the family and the home to today’s value-focused consumers.”

Mr. Balmuth continued, “Earnings before interest and taxes for the 2012 fourth quarter grew to 13.7% of sales, up from 13.0% in the fourth quarter of 2011. For fiscal 2012, operating margin rose to a record 13.1%, a gain of 75 basis points on top of an 85 basis point increase in 2011. Profit margins for both the quarter and the full year mainly benefited from higher merchandise gross margin, leverage on operating expenses from the strong gains in same store sales and the impact of the 53rd week.”

Ross also said they’re not going to report monthly sales anymore.

Posted by on March 21st, 2013 at 8:45 am


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