TJX Companies Inc, the leading off-price retailer of apparel and home fashions in the US and worldwide, announced sales and earnings results for the second quarter ended July 29th 2006.
Net sales for the second quarter were $4.0 billion, a 9% increase over last year, and consolidated comparable store sales increased 4% over last year. Net income for the quarter was $138 million, and diluted earnings per share were $.29, a 26% increase over $.23 per share in the prior year.
For the first half of fiscal 2007, net sales were $7.9 billion, an 8% increase over last year, and year-to-date consolidated comparable store sales increased 3% over the prior year. Net income was $302 million and diluted earnings per share were $.63, a 26% increase over $.50 per share in the prior year.
Ben Cammarata, Chairman and Acting CEO of The TJX Companies Inc, stated, "Our second quarter 26% increase in earnings per share and 4% comparable store sales increase both exceeded our expectations, marking our strongest second quarter in the Company's history and our third consecutive quarter of powerful performance."
During the second quarter of fiscal 2007, the company's pretax profit margin increased to 5.8% from 4.9% last year, primarily due to significant improvement in the profitability of most of the company's smaller divisions.
The gross profit margin increased 0.4 percentage points to 23.4%, due to slight improvement in merchandise margins over last year's strong performance, combined with buying and occupancy cost leverage.