Nordstrom income jumps 44% in Q1

Seattle Nordstrom reported net earnings of $116 million for the first quarter ended May 1. This represented an increase of 43.8%, compared with net earnings of $81 million for the same quarter last year.

First quarter same-store sales increased 12.0% compared with the same period in fiscal 2009. Net sales in the first quarter were $1.99 billion, an increase of 16.7% compared with net sales of $1.71 billion during the same period in fiscal 2009.

Nordstrom’s first-quarter performance continued the sales momentum experienced throughout the latter half of 2009.

Multichannel same-store sales increased 13.7%, compared with the same period in fiscal 2009. Full-line same-store sales in the first quarter increased 11.7% and direct sales increased 38.7% compared with the same period in 2009.

Nordstrom Rack continued to experience positive performance with a same-store sales increase of 1.9% in the first quarter, compared with the same period in fiscal 2009. During the first quarter, the company opened six Nordstrom Rack stores.