Seasonal

Kohl’s reported a profit of $334 million, or $1.56 per share, for the fourth quarter ended Feb. 1, down from $378 million, or $1.66 a share, a year earlier. The retailer attributed the dip to an increase in e-commerce shipping costs and holiday season markdowns.

But the retailer expressed confidence in its inventory levels and assortment, adding that it is well-positioned for spring and anticipates sales increases.

WTI expects March 2014 to trend similar in temperature to last year and below normal for the U.S. as a whole. The month starts out with cold, possibly record-breaking, in the North along with some potentially snowy and/or icy weather as a storm system moves through. Colder trends linger into the second week of the month, but toward St.Patrick’s day, temperatures look to take a turn toward trending warmer than last year.

Mooresville, N.C. – Customer interest in core home improvement categories helped lift profits at Lowe’s Companies Inc. during the fourth quarter and fiscal year 2013.

Lowe’s fourth quarter earnings rose 6% to $306 million from $282 million in the year-ago period. Full year net earnings climbed 17% to $2.29 billion from $1.96 billion.

New York – Barnes & Noble swung from a net loss in the third quarter of fiscal 2013 to a net profit in the third quarter of fiscal 2014, even as revenues dropped.

Net earnings in the third quarter totaled $63.2 million, compared to a $3.7 million net loss in the same period a year earlier. Total revenues dropped 10.3% to $1.99 billion from $2.22 billion. A 50% revenue drop in the company’s Nook segment helped drive the overall decline, although all the company’s retail and college verticals also reported revenue drops.

El Segundo, Calif. – Big 5 Sporting Goods Corp. released mostly positive financial results for the fourth quarter and fiscal year 2013. During the fourth quarter, net income rose 30% to $5.2 million from $4 million compared to the same period in the prior year.

Severe winter weather was no match for Lowe’s in the fourth quarter. The company reported sales of $11.7 billion, up 5.6% from the same quarter last year, as comps increased 3.9%.

The company also posted fourth-quarter net earnings of $306 million, up 6.3%.

A slowdown in firearms and ammunition sales as well as severe winter weather affected Big 5 Sporting Goods’ fourth quarter same-store sales.

Net sales increased about 2% to $248 million from $243.6 million, while same-store sales declined 0.5%. During the quarter, net income rose 30% to $5.2 million from $4 million compared to the same period in the prior year.

During the fiscal year, net income almost doubled, rising 87% to $27.9 million from $14.9 million. Net sales improved 6% to $993.3 million from $940.5 million and same-store sales rose 3.9%.

Dollar Tree’s fourth quarter results were affected by the extra week in last year’s fourth quarter as well as continued economic challenges.

On a year-over-year basis, net income during the fourth quarter declined about 7% to $213 million from $228.6 million, and during the full year fell about 4% to $596.7 million from $619.3 million.

Procter & Gamble, in support of the National Sleep Foundation's Sleep Awareness Week 2014, announced the launch of its newest fabric care line, the Sweet Dreams Collection.