Kohl’s Q4 profit falls 7.9% on sales decline

Menomonee Falls, Wis. -- Kohl’s Corp. reported Thursday that profit for the fourth quarter dropped 7.9% to $455 million, from $494 million a year earlier, as the retailer experienced unexpected revenue declines during the holiday selling period.



Kohl's reported that total sales dipped 0.3% to $6.02 billion in the period, and same-store sales dropped 2.1%. It was the chain’s first revenue decline in three years



Yet, said chairman and CEO Kevin Mansell on Thursday, the company was “able to navigate a difficult holiday sales season through strong expense and inventory management."



For the year, Kohl’s reported net sales were $18.8 billion, an increase of 2.2%. Same-store sales increased 0.5%.



“With the commitment of each of our 140,000 associates, we were able to navigate a difficult holiday sales season through strong expense and inventory management,” Mansell said in a statement. “We achieved a major milestone in 2011 with our e-commerce business reporting $1 billion in revenues.”