Kohl’s earnings improve 5 percent in FY14 and 17 percent in Q4

Kohl’s total sales for the financial year ended January 31, 2015 stood at 19,023 million dollars compared to 19,031 million dollars, last fiscal year. Diluted earnings per share increased 5 percent to 4.24 dollars from 4.05 dollars last fiscal. For the fourth quarter, the company’s sales stood at 6,337 million dollars compared to 6,099 million dollars, same quarter last year, representing an improvement of 3.9 percent. Diluted earnings per share for the quarter increased 17 percent to 1.83 dollars from 1.56 dollars reported in the fourth quarter, last year.

Elaborating on the results, Kevin Mansell, Kohl’s Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, said, “Our fourth quarter results showed significant improvement as many of our Greatness Agenda initiatives took hold. Our 3.7 percent increase in comparable sales was driven by both transactions per store - a key area of focus - and average transaction value.”

On February 25, 2015 Kohl's Board of Directors declared a quarterly cash dividend on the company's common stock of 0.45 dollars per share, a 15 percent increase over its prior dividend. The company ended the fiscal year with 1,162 stores in 49 states. During 2014, the company opened seven stores in new locations, relocated two existing stores, and closed three stores.

For the fiscal year 2015, the company expects earnings per diluted share of 4.40 dollars to 4.60 dollars, total sales increase of 1.8 percent to 2.8 percent, comparable sales increase of 1.5 percent to 2.5 percent and gross margin as a percentage of sales to increase 0 to 20 basis points over 2014.