Best Buy quarter shows little sign of tech splurging

MINNEAPOLIS — Earnings and comparable-store sales slipped at Best Buy, where the retailer suffered slower sales in key departments and a slowdown in consumer spending.Best Buy has reported net earnings of $177 million, or 47 cents per diluted share, for its fiscal second quarter ended Aug. 27, compared with $254 million, or 60 cents per diluted share, for the prior-year period.

The company reported total revenue of $11.3 billion for the quarter, which was essentially flat compared to the prior-year period and included a comparable-store sales decline of 2.8%. Comparable-store sales growth within the company's domestic segment included mobile computing, appliances and e-readers. The online channel delivered a 13% revenue increase in the domestic segment during the quarter, driven largely by traffic growth. These sales gains were offset primarily by comparable-store sales declines in television, gaming, digital imaging and physical media. Mobile phones comparable-store sales fell 5%, which Best Buy blamed on ndustry softness driven by the lack of significant new phone launches during the quarter relative to the prior-year period.

Best Buy said that in light of consumer spending and CE industry trends it continues to expect full year revenue to be in the range of$51 billion to $52.5 billion. Comparable-store sales continued to be expected in the range of flat to a 3% decline. Annual net earnings per diluted share (EPS) are expected to be in the range of $3.35 to $3.65 (including the impact from fiscal 2012 share repurchases).

"I'd like to thank our employees around the world for continuing to provide a great experience for our customers," said Brian Dunn, CEO of Best Buy. "While results in the second quarter and our outlook reflect continued macro challenges to overall consumer spending and lower consumer electronics industry sales, we have made good progress on our key strategic focus areas in this environment. Looking forward to the important holiday season, I believe Best Buy is well positioned to bring the benefits of our multi-channel model to our customers and shareholders."