Financial/Banking

Pleasanton, Calif. -- Safeway Inc. said Monday it approved a $1 billion stock buyback program.

The operator of grocery chains such as Safeway, Vons and Dominick's had about $400 million remaining under its stock repurchase program, through Feb. 22. The buyback authorization does not have an expiry date.

New York -- The CEO of Sears Holdings Corp., Louis D'Ambrosio, received a compensation package in 2011 whose value was put at $9.9 million, according to a proxy statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

D'Ambrosio joined the company in February 2011. He received a base salary of $931,000. His stock awards totaled $8 million and his bonus was $150,000.

Toronto -- Sears Financial has launched an online points redemption system for its five million plus card members, making it one of the first major retail loyalty programs in Canada to do so.

MINNEAPOLIS — Target has completed its $10 billion share repurchase program.

The program, which was authorized by the retailer's board of directors in November 2007, represents the repurchase of 193.5 million shares, or nearly 23% of its outstanding shares from that time period, at an average price of $51.68 per share.

Target will continue to repurchase shares under the $5 billion program approved by its board of directors in January, which it expects to complete in the next two to three years.

Minneapolis -- Target Corp. anticipates that its annual dividend may hit $3 per share or more by 2017, if its annual earnings are at $8 per share or more by that time.

Target on Monday said it has paid a dividend every quarter since it became a public company in 1967, and in 2011 the company marked its 40th consecutive year of annual dividend increases.

Target also announced that it plans to invest $1.5 billion or more in buybacks in 2012. It invested nearly $1.9 billion in stock repurchases last year.

New York -- The average gift card dollar volume growth on a year-over-year basis increased 10% during the last six months of 2011, with consumers shopping earlier in the holiday season for prepaid cards and adding more value to their purchases than in 2010, according to a study by First Data Corp.

By Chris Blees, [email protected]

PLEASANTON, Calif. — Ross Stores continues to deliver on consumers' demands for value and delivered a profitable fourth quarter that met Wall Street expectations. The company reported that profit for the quarter ended Jan. 28 rose 19% to $192 million, from $161.8 million last year. 

Sales surged almost 12% to $2.4 billion, and same-store sales increased 7%.

For the full year, Ross reported a net income rise of 18% to $657.2 million. Sales increased 9% to $8.6 billion, with same-store sales up 5%.