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Empresas y finanzas

Macy's returns to profit on strong sales growth


    WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Macy's Inc returned to profit in the first quarter as the department store operator benefited from a strong recovery in consumer spending and efforts to cater merchandise assortments to local tastes.

    Macy's, based in Cincinnati, said net income in the first quarter that ended May 1, was $23 million, or 5 cents per share, in line with analyst forecasts. That compares with a loss of $88 million, or 21 cents per share, a year earlier.

    Overall sales rose 7.2 percent to $5.57 billion, buoyed by a 5.5 percent in sales at its stores open at least year during the quarter. Analysts, on average, had forecast sales of $5.54 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

    Despite the return to profit and its improving sales, the company maintained its outlook for 2010 sales and profits and sounded a note of caution, saying it was "premature" to raise its outlook again for now "given the macro-economic uncertainty."

    Macy's Chief Executive Terry J. Lundgren suggested that sales growth would have to come at the expense of other department store chains.

    "While the direction of the overall economy remains unclear, we believe we are well-positioned to continue to gain market share," Lundgren said in a statement.

    At its analyst day meeting in late April, the company raised its 2010 earnings forecast to between $1.75 and $1.80 per share, and its full-year same-store sales expectations to between 3 percent and 5 percent. Analysts are expecting a full-year profit of $1.87 per share.

    Lundgren said sales at Macy's upscale Bloomingdale's chain, which opened a store in Dubai during the quarter, had performed very well during the quarter.

    In the fall, Bloomingdale's will open its first outlet stores with four locations, as the chain seeks to ward off competition from such chains as Nordstrom Inc and Saks Inc which are also ramping up their off-price chains.

    Macy's said it also got a boost from online sales, which rose 34 percent during the quarter.

    Macy's operates about 850 department stores in North America under the Macy's and Bloomingdale's names.

    Shares were down 7 cents in premarket trading from a closing price on Tuesday of $23.90 on the New York Stock Exchange.

    (Reporting by Phil Wahba, editing by Maureen Bavdek, Dave Zimmerman)