Finance & Capital Management

As Macy’s undergoes aggressive changes to better compete in an omnichannel retailing world, the company reported a decline in profit for the fourth quarter.

For the quarter ended Jan. 31, profit fell to $793 million from $811 million. Per-share earnings were $2.26 a share, up from $2.16 a share a year earlier. Same store sales grew 1.7% Revenue increased 1.8% to $9.36 billion.

Office Depot posted a larger profit in the fourth quarter, but the retailer says currency pressures, market challenges and its tentative merger with Staples could negatively affect sales in 2015.

Office Depot reported a profit of 7 cents a share, compared with a year-earlier loss of 5 cents a share. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had projected earnings of four cents a share on revenue of $3.91 billion.

New York -- Atlanta-based The Home Depot reported a strong fourth quarter performance, with sales up 8.3% to $19.2 billion, and fourth quarter net earnings up 36.1% to $1.38 billion.

Comp-store sales for the quarter were positive 7.9%, and positive 8.9% for U.S. stores. Home Depot CEO Craig Menear pointed to a number of factors responsible for the growth.

“We had a strong finish to the year, as strength across the store, the recovering U.S. housing market and solid execution aided our business in 2014,” he said.

Essen, Germany – Global discount supermarket retailer Aldi Inc. is thinking big when it comes to Texas. According to the Dallas Morning News, Aldi sees potential for as many as 450 stores in the Lone Star State.

This would be part of a larger expansion program, announced in November, that would grow Aldi’s total U.S. store count by 650 units to about 2,000 by 2018. Southern California is another major growth target for the chain.

Washington, D.C. – Retailers looking forward to consumers receiving their tax refund checks this year may be setting themselves up for disappointment. According to a new survey from the National Retail Federation (NRF) and Prosper Insights & Analytics, close to half (47%) of the 66% of Americans expecting a tax refund this year plan to save it.

Expense from a pension settlement and higher selling, general and administrative costs drove Havertys into the red for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2014.

Dillard’s CEO credited an improved assortment and top-notch service with the company’s best sales performance of 2014 in the fourth quarter.

The company reported fourth-quarter net income of $130.5 million, up 9.5% from $119.1 million. Same-store sales rose 3% to $2.136 billion. Dillard's took in $2.18 billion in revenue during the fourth quarter, up from $2.08 billion during the same period last year.

Atlanta – Expense from a pension settlement and higher selling, general and administrative (SG&A) costs drove Havertys into the red for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2014. The retailer reported a net loss of $10.19 million, compared to net income of $9.68 million the same period a year earlier.