Finance & Capital Management

Union, N.J. -- Bed Bath & Beyond Inc.’s third quarter net earnings rose to $237.2 million, less than Wall Street expected, from $232.8 million in the year-ago period, as higher costs and expenses impacted sales growth. The company trimmed its full-year earnings outlook.

Revenue for the three months ended Nov. 30 rose 6% to $2.87 billion, from $2.7 billion. Same-store sales increased 1.3%.

Philadelphia – Net sales at Urban Outfitters for the two months ended Dec. 31, 2013, increased to $716 million, or 8% from the same period in the previous year. Same-store retail segment net sales, which include the direct-to-consumer channel, increased 3%.

Same-store retail segment net sales increased 21% at Free People and 11% at Anthropologie and decreased 6% at Urban Outfitters. Wholesale segment net sales increased 21%.

Pittsburgh – Total net revenue for American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. decreased 2% to $882 million during the fourth quarter of fiscal 2013, compared to $904 million for the same quarter a year earlier. Consolidated same-store sales decreased 7%, compared to a 5% increase for the comparable period in 2012.

New York – Barnes & Noble reported decreases in revenue for both its retail and Nook segments during the nine-week 2013 holiday season as compared to the same period in the prior year. The retail segment, which consists of the Barnes & Noble bookstores and BN.com, had revenues of $1.1 billion, decreasing 6.6% from the prior year.

Philadelphia -- Net sales for the first quarter of fiscal 2014 at Destination Maternity Corporation decreased 0.3% to $134.8 million from $135.3 million reported for the first quarter of fiscal 2013. Same-store sales slightly increased 0.7%.

MATTHEWS, N.C. — Family Dollar Stores on Thursday announced that president and COO Michael Bloom has left the company to pursue other interests. The company will conduct a search for a new president and COO. The news comes amid disappointing first quarter results for the company, which lowered its earnings expectations for the second quarter and full year. Family Dollar also announced it has promoted Jason Reiser to the position of executive VP - chief merchandising officer.

The search is on for a new president and COO at Family Dollar following the resignation of Michael Bloom amid deteriorating financial results and a 3% same store sales decline in December.

Pier 1 president and CEO Alex W. Smith expressed extreme disappointment over the company’s December sales results, which came in well below expectations despite having kicked off the holiday selling season with a record post-Thanksgiving weekend.

Just a couple of days after news that Barnes & Noble permanently closed its onetime flagship on Fifth Ave. in New York, the company reported a revenue decrease of 6.6% for the nine-week holiday period ending Dec. 28, 2013 in its retail segment.

The decrease over the prior year in the retail segment, which consists of the Barnes & Noble bookstores and BN.com, was fueled by a 5.5% decline in comparable sales and store closures. Core comparable bookstore sales, which exclude sales of Nook products, decreased 0.2% as compared to the prior year.

Supervalu reported net earnings of $31 million during the third quarter of fiscal 2014, almost double the net earnings of $16 million reported in the same quarter of the prior fiscal year. This dramatic increase came even as net sales slipped 1% to $4.1 billion from $4.5 billion.