Finance & Capital Management

WOONSOCKET, R.I. — CVS delivered strong second-quarter results and is moving forward with plans to leverage the upcoming changes under health reform.

Buoyed by strong sales and growing profitability, leading footwear retailer DSW Inc., preannounced second quarter sales and plans for a 2-for-1 stock split in advance of the release of second quarter results on August 27.

DSW’s sales for the second quarter ended August 3, increased 9% to $558 million from $512 million and same store sales increased 4.3% on top of a prior year gain of 4.2%. Those results prompted the operator of 377 stores to increase its full year profit forecast to a range of $3.60 to $3.80 per share from the previous range of $3.40 to $3.60 per share.

Pittsburgh – American Eagle Outfitters is lowering its earnings outlook for the second quarter of fiscal 2013 due to what the retailer characterizes as weak sales and margins. The company now forecasts earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter of about $0.10, down significantly from $0.21 in the second quarter of last year.

Cary, N.C. -- C-store operator The Pantry reported that net income for the quarter ended June 27 dropped to $5.9 million from $14.8 million in the year-ago period.

Same-store merchandise revenue edged up 1.3%.


 

Fremont, Calif. -- The Men's Wearhouse has wrapped up its previously announced acquisition of Joseph Abboud (JA Apparel Corp.).

The cash transaction is valued at about $97.5 million; JA Holding will operate as a wholly owned subsidiary of The Men's Wearhouse.

 

Increased advertising to support brand differentiation ate into second quarter profits at snack maker Snyder’s-Lance, but the company expects the investment to pay off during the second half of the year.

Snyder's-Lance, Inc. said sales increased 9.9% to $439 million from $399 million and profits, excluding non-recurring items, increased 12.6% to $16.9 million, or 24 cents a share, compared to $15 million, or 22 cents a share. Earnings per share were four cents below analysts’ consensus estimate.

NAPERVILLE, Ill. — OfficeMax has reported weak second-quarter retail sales as the merger with Office Depot, which reported weak second-quarter sales last week, moves forward.

Seattle – Amazon.com founder and CEO Jeff Bezos is purchasing The Washington Post from media holdings firm The Washington Post. Co. for $250 million in cash. He is making the purchase privately and Amazon.com is not involved in the transaction. Bezos will reportedly take the currently public Washington Post private.