Kohl’s tops Street

Kohl’s Corp. beat analysts’ expectations for the second quarter amid reduced expenses and better inventory management. But its sales continued to show weakness.



The retailer posted a profit of $140 million, or 77 cents a share for the quarter ended July 30, compared with $130 million, or 66 cents a share, in the year-ago period. Excluding certain items, earnings rose to $1.22 a share from $1.07 a year ago.



Revenue fell 2% to a better-than-expected $4.18 billion. Same-store sales fell 1.8%.



"Our sales improved over our first quarter results, but were below our expectations," said Kohl’s CEO and chairman Kevin Mansell. “Our inventory management initiatives helped us to achieve a strong increase in gross margin with ending inventory per store down significantly from last year.



Kohl’s ended the quarter with 1,150 Kohl's stores, 12 FILA Outlet stores, and three Off/Aisle clearance centers in 49 states, compared with 1,164 Kohl's stores at the same time last year.