Kohl's posts 40% EPS growth in Q3

MENOMONEE FALLS, Wis. — Jennifer Lopez' and Marc Anthony's split had little impact on sales of their respective brands at Kohl's, which reported its third-quarter results Thursday. According to Kevin Mansell, Kohl’s chairman, president and CEO, "the launch of [the] Jennifer Lopez and Mark Anthony brands during the quarter met [the company's] aggressive sales plans."

Kohl’sreported third quarter diluted earnings per share increased 40% to 80 cents. Net income for the quarter increased 20% to $211 million, compared with $176 million (57 cents per diluted share) a year ago. Net sales were $4.4 billion, an increase of 3.8% over the comparable prior year quarter. Comparable-store sales for the quarter increased 2.1%.

Mansellsaid, “I am extremely pleased with our ability to deliver strong net income and earnings per share growth in a challenging sales environment. Our gross margin rate increased over last year as a result of our increased penetration of private and exclusive brands and disciplined inventory management. We are pleased with the expense management discipline across the company that allowed us to grow our expenses less than we originally planned.”

Kohl’s opened 40 stores during 2011, including 31 during the third quarter, and now has 1,127 stores in 49 states, compared with 1,089 stores at the same time last year.

For the fourth quarter, Kohl’s said it expects total sales to increase between 4% and 6% and comparable-store sales to increase between 2% and 4%.

As a result of its third quarter performance and its fourth quarter assumptions, Kohl’s said it is increasing its fiscal 2011 guidance from $4.34 to $4.49 per diluted share to $4.41 to $4.52 per diluted share.