Budgets/Spending/Market Size

Brentwood, Tenn. -- Tractor Supply Co. reported an 11% rise in profit for the quarter ended March 29, to $48.8 million from $44 million last year.

Revenue rose 9% to $1.18 billion, and same-store sales increased 2.2% versus a 0.5% increase in the prior year period.

For the full year, the company said it expects capital expenditures to range between $240 million and $250 million, including spending to support 102 to 106 new store openings and construction of the new Store Support Center to open in 2014.

Franklin, Tenn. – China was the fastest-growing country in Asia during 2013 in terms of new POS terminal installed. According to a new report from IHL Group, “Asia/Pacific POS Terminal Study,” China had 12% year-over-year growth in year-over-year POS terminal installations.

The Asia/Pacific region as a whole experienced 6.5% POS terminal growth. Other findings include that uncertainty about foreign ownership of retailers slowed POS growth in India to 8% and that Vietnam was the newest hot market for new POS devices.

Bentonville, Ark. -- Wal-Mart Stores Inc. cut some stock awards and reduced outgoing CEO Mike Duke’s compensation package 73% to $5.6 million in 2013, according to a report by the Associated Press.

Last year, Duke didn't get stock awards that are given in anticipation of future performance, and his performance-based bonus was reduced, resulting in a compensation package worth about $5.6 million including a base salary of $1.4 million and a performance-based bonus of $2.8 million for the fiscal year ended Jan. 31.

Procter & Gamble’s third-quarter results met expectations, and the company says that it remains on track to deliver top- and bottom-line growth objectives for the fiscal year.

Net sales for the quarter remained flat at $20.6 billion, including a negative three-percentage point impact from foreign exchange. P&G delivered organic sales growth of 3% for the quarter.

Waban, Mass. - The percentage of large organizations that have reached the two highest levels of customer experience maturity has grown from 6% in 2013 to 10% this year. During the same period, the percentage of companies in the lowest level of maturity has dropped from 40% to 31%, according to a new report from Temkin Group, “The State of Customer Experience Management 2014.”

Other findings include:

New York - The eight-day run up to Easter 2014 fell shy of the previous year’s comparable period by 9.3% in traffic and 8.9% in sales. According to data from retail analytics provider RetailNext, there was a 1.2- percentage-point improvement in conversion, which helped generate a sales decline that was less than the traffic decline.

Minneapolis – SuperValu Inc. swung to a profit in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2014 from a net loss in the fourth quarter of the prior fiscal year. Net earnings were a better-than-expected $26 million, compared to a net loss of $1.41 billion a year earlier.

In addition, net sales rose 1.4% to $3.95 billion from $3.9 billion and same-store sales increased 3.5%. The substantial improvement in profits partially resulted from a significant decrease in charges and costs.

Plano, Texas – Rent-A-Center Inc. reported declining net earnings for first quarter 2014, even as revenues slightly grew. The company said it plans to optimize its U.S. store footprint by consolidating about 150 stores into existing stores by the end of the second quarter of fiscal 2014.

Net earnings fell 37% to $28.9 million from $46.1 million, while total revenues increased 1.8% to $833.7 million from $819.3 million. Same-store sales dropped 0.8%.