E-tailer Baby Universe joins scorecard
By Janice Chamberlain -- Kids Today, 11/1/2005
Greensboro, N.C.— For the first time in several months, we've added a new company to the Kids Today quarterly retail scorecard: Baby Universe. The Internet retailer brings the total of companies on this edition of the scorecard to 10.
While small, Baby Universe bills itself as the "leading online retailer of brand name baby, toddler and maternity products in the United States." As Baby Universe, with the stock symbol BUN, joins the scorecard, several other companies prepare to leave it.
Planned mergers leading to private status will eliminate both ShopKo Stores and Toys "R" Us. Linens 'n Things has announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement with Apollo Management to be acquired. That transaction is planned for next spring.
Earlier, Sears, Roebuck and Kmart united under the name Sears Holding and now reports as that company.
In order to present a comprehensive picture of Sears Holding operations, Kids Today is reporting pro forma results for the giant retailer. Pro forma results reflect the union of Kmart and Sears as if it took place at the beginning of 2004, rather than the start of 2005. By using pro forma data, results from the year-earlier and latest quarters become comparable.
Aggregate revenues for the 10 retailers were up to $112.2 billion, from $103.5 billion in the second quarter of 2004. That 8.4% increase was particularly aided by double-digit gains at Wal-Mart, Target Corp., Bed Bath & Beyond, Burlington Coat Factory and Baby Universe.
Baby Universe scored the largest revenues increase, posting a 91% jump in revenues to $5.3 million from $2.8 million a year ago. Second place went to Target's 13.6% increase.
Wal-Mart, as usual, recorded the largest dollar gain in revenues: $7.1 billion. Target added $1.4 billion in revenues for the second quarter of 2005, compared with the comparable 2004 period.
Three retailers on the scorecard reported revenues slides for the second quarter: Sears Holding, which dropped $280 million, quarter-over-quarter; ShopKo, down $38.3 million; and Linens 'n Things, off $5.4 million.
Reviewing profits, six of the 10 companies added earnings dollars in the latest quarter compared with the year-earlier period. The largest percentage increase belonged to J.C. Penney, whose income zoomed from $1 million last year to $131 million in the latest quarter. Take out the $67 million hit from discontinued operations in last year's quarter however and Penney's growth is a respectable 93%.
Profits at Target fell 61.7% because of unusual gains in the comparable 2004 quarter, making it a tough one to match. In the 2004 quarter, Target recorded a $1 billion net gain on the disposal of discontinued operations and $31 million in net income from discontinued operations.
Despite solid performances by a number of companies, Wal-Mart once again came in on top in earnings in the latest quarter, adding $154 million in profits to its coffers to finish the quarter with net income of $2.8 billion. The mega retailer was the only company on the scorecard to top $1 billion in profits.
The return-on-revenues champ was once again Bed Bath & Beyond, which posted a score of 9.9%, up from its 7.9% result in the first quarter of this year. Second place again went to Target, which recorded ROR of 4.5% in the latest quarter, exceeding its 4.3% in the first quarter of 2005.
For the third consecutive quarter, Burlington Coat Factory achieved the highest same-store sales numbers, achieving growth of 8.9%, followed by Target's 6.7% increase. The two retailers finished in the same places last quarter.
Kids Today's first-quarter retailer scorecard is based on the financial results of 10 publicly traded companies with fiscal quarters ending from June 30 to Aug. 27, 2005.
| Retailer | Same-store sales |
| Burlington Coat Factory | 8.9% |
| Target | 6.7 |
| Bed Bath & Beyond | 4.5 |
| J.C. Penney1 | 4.2 |
| Wal-Mart2 | 3.5 |
| Kmart | -0.3 |
| Toys "R" Us3 | -1.4 |
| ShopKo Stores | -5.6 |
| Linens 'n Things | -6.8 |
| Sears4 | -7.4 |
| 1. For department stores 2. For U.S. stores 3. For the U.S. toy store division 4. Sears Domestic Source: Company reports |
|
| revenue in millions | net income in millions | return on revenues | |||||||
| Retailer | Qtr. ended | 2005 | 2004 | change | 2005 | 2004 | Change | 2005 | 2004 |
| Wal-Mart | 7/31 | $77,520.01 | $70,459.01 | 10.0% | $2,805.0 | $2,651.0 | 5.8% | 3.6% | 3.8% |
| Sears Holding2 | 7/30 | 13,192.03 | 13,472.03 | -2.1 | 161.04 | 110.04 | 46.4 | 1.2 | 0.8 |
| Target | 7/30 | 11,990.05 | 10,556.05 | 13.6 | 540.0 | 1,410.06 | -61.7 | 4.5 | 13.4 |
| J.C. Penney | 7/30 | 3,981.0 | 3,778.0 | 5.4 | 131.07 | 1.08 | 13000.0 | 3.3 | — |
| Toys "R" Us | 7/30 | 2,099.0 | 2,022.0 | 3.8 | (359.0)9 | 42.0 | — | -17.1 | 2.1 |
| Bed Bath & Beyond | 8/27 | 1,431.2 | 1,274.0 | 12.3 | 141.4 | 120.0 | 17.8 | 9.9 | 9.4 |
| ShopKo Stores | 7/30 | 740.510 | 778.810 | -4.9 | 11.5 | 8.3 | 38.9 | 1.6 | 1.1 |
| Burlington Coat Factory | 8/27 | 658.211 | 580.611 | 13.4 | (15.9)12 | (18.7)12 | — | -2.4 | -3.2 |
| Linens 'n Things | 7/2 | 573.3 | 578.7 | -0.9 | (5.9)13 | 0.1 | — | -1.0 | — |
| Baby Universe | 6/30 | 5.3 | 2.8 | 91.0 | (0.3) | (0.1) | — | -6.1 | -2.6 |
| TOTAL | $112,190.4 | $103,501.9 | 8.4% | $3,408.8 | $4,323.7 | -21.2% | 3.0% | 4.2% | |
| Note: Figures in parentheses are losses or declines. 1. Includes non-sales income of $709 million in the 2005 quarter and $737 million in the 2004 quarter. 2. Represents the combined results of Kmart and Sears as though the companies had been combined as of the beginning of 2004. 3. Includes credit and financial products revenues of $78 million in the 2005 quarter and $81 million in the 2004 quarter. 4. Includes pretax gains on the sale of assets of $4 million in the 2005 quarter and $77 million in the 2004 quarter, pretax restructuring charges of $42 million in the 2005 quarter and $41 million in the 2004 quarter and pretax bankruptcy-related recoveries of $15 million in the 2005 quarter and $5 million in the 2004 quarter. 5. Includes net credit revenues of $323 million in the 2005 quarter and $279 million in the 2004 quarter. 6. Includes $31 million in net earnings from discontinued operations and a $1 billion net gain on the disposal of discontinued operations. 7. Includes $9 million in net income from discontinued operations. 8. Includes a $67 million net loss from discontinued operations. 9. Includes pretax restructuring and other charges of $2 million in the 2005 quarter and $31 million in the 2004 quarter and income tax benefits of $84 million in the 2005 quarter and $266 million in the 2004 quarter. The 2005 quarter also includes a $400 million pretax charge for transaction and related costs and a $22 million pretax loss on early extinguishment of debt and contract settlement fees. 10. Includes licensed department rentals and other income of $3.5 million in the 2005 quarter and $3.3 million in the 2004 quarter. 11. Includes non-sales revenues of $7.3 million in the 2005 quarter and $6.4 million in the 2004 quarter. 12. Includes income tax benefits of $10 million in the 2005 quarter and $11.9 million in the 2004 quarter. The 2004 quarter also includes a $1.3 million net loss from discontinued operations and a $1,000 net unrealized gain on non-current marketable securities. 13. Includes a $3.6 million income tax benefit. Source: Company reports and Kids Today market research |
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