Ross Stores Q2 earnings up 13 percent

Ross Stores earnings per share for the second quarter ended July 30, 2016 of 0.71 dollars witnessed a 13 percent increase on top of an 11 percent gain in the prior year. Net earnings for the current year period grew to 282 million dollars, up from 259 million dollars last year. Sales rose 7 percent to 3.181 billion dollars, with comparable store sales up 4 percent on top of 4 percent growth in the prior year.

Commenting on the company’s performance, Barbara Rentler, CEO said, "Both sales and earnings results in the second quarter were ahead of our forecast. Higher merchandise gross margin during the quarter drove a 50 basis point increase in operating margin to 14.4 percent, up from 13.9 percent in the same period last year."

H1 earnings improve 9 percent

For the first six months, earnings per share were 1.44 dollars, up 9 percent on top of a 15 percent increase last year. Net earnings were 573 million dollars, up from 541 million dollars in the prior year. Sales rose 6 percent to 6.270 billion dollars, with comparable store sales up 3 percent versus a 5 percent gain in the same period last year.

Looking ahead, Rentler said, "For the third quarter, we are forecasting a same store sales gain of 1 percent to 2 percent on top of a 3 percent increase in the prior year, and earnings per share of 0.52 dollar to 0.55 dollar, compared to 0.53 dollar in last year's third quarter. For the fourth quarter, we are also projecting same store sales to grow 1percent to 2 percent versus a 4 percent increase last year, with earnings per share expected to be 0.73 dollar to 0.76 dollar, up from 0.66 dollar in the 2015 fourth quarter. Based on our first half results and second half guidance, fiscal 2016 earnings per share are now planned to increase 7 percent to 10 percent to 2.69 dollars to 2.75 dollars, on top of a 14 percent gain last year."

Picture:Ross Stores