Finance & Capital Management

A unique perspective into the holiday season was provided by leading payments processor Vantiv when the company reported strong third quarter results but expressed reservations about the volume of activity during the fourth quarter.

The company said its third quarter revenues increase 14% to $532 million and net income on an adjusted basis increase 17% to $80 million compared to $68.1 million while adjusted earnings per share increased 25% to 40 cents from 32 cents.

Free standing inserts remain a popular promotional vehicle, but weakness in other aspects of the Valassis business model have CEO Rob Mason vowing major changes after a third quarter sales decline.

GNC plans to make some major supply chain investments in 2014, including opening a fourth distribution center serving domestic stores, located near Indianapolis, following strong results for the third quarter.

The company reported a net income increase of 17.3%, from $62.2 million to $73 million.

Revenue grew about 9%, from $621.6 million to $675.6 million. Same store sales increased approximately 6.7% in domestic company-owned stores, including GNC.com sales, in the quarter, while in domestic franchise locations, same-store sales increased 5.9%.

Amazon.com continued to lose money during its third quarter, although considerably less than a year ago, as its sales advanced 24% to more than $17 billion.

After the market closed on Thursday, Amazon reported a net loss of $41 million, or nine cents a share, during the quarter ended September 30, versus a net loss the prior year of $274 million, or 60 cents a share. The reduced loss coupled with sales of $17. 1 billion which exceeded analysts’ estimate of $16.8 billion caused shares to surge in after hours trading.

Seattle -- Nordstrom announced two new locations for Nordstrom Rack, one in Columbus, Ohio, and one in Tulsa, Oak.

Nordstrom Rack will open at Sun Center in Columbus, Ohio. The approximately 37,890-sq.-ft. store is scheduled to open in spring 2014.

Nordstrom currently operates a full-line store in Columbus at Easton Town Center. The company opened the first Nordstrom Rack in the area at Easton Market on September 12, 2013.

New York -- The three rules of retail real estate are the same as the three rules of any other type of real estate – “location, location, location.” But each retail chain has its own unique requirements for what makes a good location, and Charlotte, N.C.-based Bojangles’ Restaurants Inc. is getting some technical assistance in determining the best spots for new stores based on factors such as who lives nearby.

Scouting the Best Locations

Pleasanton, Calif. – Several buyout firms are reportedly considering attempting a partial or total purchase of Safeway Inc., with Cerberus Capital Management LP among the potential bidders, according to Reuters.

Safeway has retained Goldman Sachs Group Inc. as an advisor, the report said.

Toano, Va. – Lumber Liquidators increased its net income in the third quarter of fiscal 2013 58.4% to $20.4 million, from $12.9 million in the year-ago period.

Net sales grew 24.5% to $254.3 million, from $204.3 million in the same period a year earlier. Same-store sales grew 17.4%, driven by a 9.8% increase in the number of customers invoiced and a 6.9% increase in the average sale.  

Houston – After rejecting a $2.3 billion buyout offer from Jos. A. Bank, Men’s Wearhouse reportedly is considering purchasing men’s shoemaker Allen Edmonds Corp., according to reports by the New York Times, Wall Street Journal and others. The high-end footwear is owned by private equity firm Goldner Hawn Johnson & Morrison, which bought it seven years ago.

It wasn’t clear how — or if — a deal for Allen Edmonds would impact on Jos. A. Bank’s offer.

Toronto – Sobey’s Inc. has signed a consent agreement with the Canadian Competition Bureau allowing it to proceed with the acquisition of substantially all of the assets of Canada Safeway.

As part of the consent agreement, Sobey’s will divest 23 stores in the provinces of Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba and Sasketchewan. The deal, announced in June, will cost Sobey’s owner Empire Co. Ltd. about $5.7 billion.