Macy's headed into holidays on heels of strong Q3

CINCINNATI — Macy’s Inc. is well positioned for strong holiday season as it continue to report quarterly sales and earnings growth.



For its third quarter ended Oct. 27, the company reported earnings of 36 cents per diluted share, compared with 32 cents per diluted share in last year’s third quarter. Operating income totaled $325 million or 5.4% of sales for the quarter, compared with operating income of $291 million or 5% of sales for the same period last year. For the first three quarters of 2012, Macy’s Inc.’s operating income totaled $1.270 billion or 6.9% of sales, compared with operating income of $1.127 billion or 6.4% of sales for the same period last year.

Macy's sales for the quarter rose 3.8% to $6.1 billion from $5.853 billion in the third quarter of 2011. On a same-store basis, sales were up 3.7%.



Online remains a key area for Macy's Inc., as sales in this space were up 40.4% over the same period last year.



“We were pleased to deliver sales and earnings growth for the 11th consecutive quarter,” said Terry Lundgren, chairman, president and CEO of Macy’s Inc. “Our success in the third quarter reflected a combination of factors, as has been the case over the past several years. We continue to implement our My Macy’s localization, omnichannel integration and enhanced customer engagement strategies with increasing precision, passion and success. This has helped us to deepen our relationship with customers and capture market share.



In light of its third quarter performance, Macy's has raised it full year earning earnings guidance to $3.35 to $3.40 per diluted share, including fourth quarter earnings guidance of $1.94 to $1.99 per diluted share. Previous 2012 full-year guidance (provided on Aug. 8) was for earnings of $3.30 to $3.35 per share, and compares with initial guidance of $3.25 to $3.30 per diluted share provided at the beginning of the year.



Macy's said that beginning in fiscal 2013 it will no longer report monthly sales.