Handbag, jewelry sales send Saks income soaring

NEW YORK — Saks Inc. fourth-quarter net income climbed 48% amid strong sales of handbags, fine jewelry and men's and women's apparel. The earnings topped expectations.

For the period ended Jan. 28, Saks earned $37 million, compared with $25 million last year. Quarterly revenue rose 7% to $925.1 million from $866.3 million, beating Wall Street's $918.9 million estimate.

Same-store sales were up 7.7%.

Saks Direct has an increase of about 21%. Saks said revenue at Off 5th stores open at least a year was weaker than expected.

Full-year net income jumped 57% to $74.8 million. Annual revenue climbed 8% to $3.01 billion. Same-store sales increased 9.5%.

Stephen Sadove, chairman and CEO, commented in a statement: “Our vision for the future is to be an omni-channel retailer that uses customer centricity as a guide to decision making. To ensure we achieve this vision, we will be expanding our strategic efforts and more aggressively investing in our business, especially in technology and other systems enhancements.”