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Empresas y finanzas

Target quarterly profit rises more than expected


    CHICAGO (Reuters) - Target Corp reported a bigger-than-expected rise in quarterly profit on Wednesday as sales perked up when shoppers started buying clothing and other items for kids going back to school in the fall and its credit card business continued to grow.

    Shares of Target, which has more than 1,760 U.S. stores and is getting ready to open stores in Canada, rose 4.9 percent to $51.85 in premarket trading.

    Target earned $704 million, or $1.03 per share, in the second quarter, up from $679 million, or 92 cents per share, a year earlier.

    Analysts, on average, expected it to earn 97 cents per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

    The retailer forecast third-quarter earnings per share of 70 cents to 75 cents, and full-year earnings per share of $4.15 to $4.30.

    Analysts were looking for Target to earn 71 cents per share this quarter and $4.12 per share this year.

    Earlier this month, Target said second-quarter sales rose 5.1 percent to $15.9 billion, with sales at stores open at least a year up 3.9 percent.

    Results in the company's credit card business also improved. Bad debt expense plunged to $15 million from $138 million and profit rose to $171 million from $149 million.

    (Reporting by Jessica Wohl. Editing by Robert MacMillan, Dave Zimmerman)