Ross Stores July comps drop

PLEASANTON, Calif. Ross Stores Thursday reported sales of $450 million for the four weeks ended Aug. 4, a 9% increase over the $414 million in sales for the four weeks ended Aug. 5. Same-store sales for the four weeks ended Aug. 4 grew 1% compared to the four weeks ended Aug. 5, 2006.

For the 13 weeks ended Aug. 4, sales were $1.4 billion, a 10% increase over the $1.3 billion in sales reported for the 13 weeks ended Aug. 5, 2006. Comparable-store sales for the 13 weeks ended Aug. 4 rose 2% over the 13 weeks ended Aug. 5, 2006. Comparable-store sales rose 4% for the second quarter ended July 29, 2006.

For the six months ended Aug. 4, sales were $2.8 billion, a 9% increase over the $2.6 billion in sales for the six months ended Aug. 5, 2006. Same-store sales for the six months ended Aug. 4 grew 1% over the six months ended Aug. 5, 2006. Comparable-store sales rose 5% for the six months ended July 29, 2006.

Michael Balmuth, vice chairman, president and ceo, commented, "Comparable-store sales in July were below our expectations for a 3% to 4% increase. After performing in line with plan during the first two weeks, sales slowed during the latter part of the month, especially in our back-to-school categories. Although disappointing, we are hopeful that this is a temporary issue driven mainly by a larger-than-planned impact from the later back-to-school start dates compared to last year, especially in Texas and Florida. These two key states were also negatively affected by the shift in sales tax holidays, which moved from July last year into August this year. As expected, we estimate that this change reduced same-store sales for the company by at least 1% in July."

Balmuth continued, "Based on current margin and expense trends, we continue to expect earnings per share for the 13 weeks ended Aug. 4 to be 36 cents to 37 cents, up 13% to 16% over second quarter 2006 earnings per share of 32 cents. "