Year-to-date net earnings increased 42 percent to $360.9 million for the period ended October 29, 2005, compared to net earnings of $253.5 million for the same period last year.
Earnings per share for the same periods were $1.30 and $0.89, respectively.
Year-to-date total sales increased 7.9 percent to $5.4 billion compared to prior year sales of $5.0 billion.
Same-store sales increased 6.1 percent.
During the third quarter Nordstrom opened two full-line stores: one in San Antonio, Texas at The Shops at La Cantera, and the other in Irvine, Calif. at The Irvine Spectrum.
The final new store planned for this year was opened November 11th in Dallas, Texas at the NorthPark Center.
Gross square footage for the year has increased approximately 3.4 percent, from 19,397,000 to 20,058,000.
The company's Board of Directors has approved a quarterly dividend of $0.085 per share, payable on December 15, 2005, to shareholders of record on November 30, 2005.
Nordstrom repurchased approximately 4,703,000 shares of common stock during the third quarter for a total of $172.4 million.
The resulting reduction in weighted average shares outstanding increased diluted earnings per share approximately $0.01 for the quarter.
For the fiscal year ending January 28, 2006, the company is raising its prior earnings per share outlook of $1.80-$1.90 to $1.90-$1.95.
This would represent a 38 to41 percent increase over the prior year.