Michaels sees improved quarterly profits, sales

IRVING, Texas Michaels Stores reported net income for the quarter ended Oct. 31, of $15 million compared to a $20 million loss for the quarter ended Nov. 1, 2008.

John Menzer, CEO, said, "We are pleased with our overall performance during the third quarter. Our strong focus on execution, including the Halloween season, helped drive improved sales, gross margin and reduced per store inventory levels. In addition, a number of categories reset earlier this year continue to perform above expectations, with bakeware, bead and jewelry making and impulse being our top performing departments. Also, we expanded our operating margin by 150 basis points to 9.0% of sales, driven by strong cost control efforts and improvement in our gross margin rate.

Net sales for the quarter were $929 million, a 2.5% increase over last year's net sales of $906 million. Same-store sales for the quarter increased 1.3% due to a 4.7% increase in transactions, a 3.5% decrease in average ticket and a positive 0.1% impact from deferred custom framing revenue.