Revenues, profits rise for majority of retailers

Greensboro— Perhaps the only thing that hasn't changed on this edition of the Kids Today quarterly retail scorecard is the number of companies on the list: nine, the same as last quarter.

Looking forward, a number of retailers will drop off the list, including ShopKo and Toys "R" Us, both of which have planned mergers that will transform them into privately held companies. Earlier, Sears, Roebuck and Kmart united under the name Sears Holding and will report results 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 utilizing pro forma data, results from the year-earlier and latest quarters become comparable.

Aggregate revenues and profits were up for the nine retailers, 8.2% and 13.8%, respectively. Total revenues in the latest quarter were $105.5 billion, compared with $97.6 billion in the year-earlier period, and net income grew from $2.7 million a year ago to $3.1 million in the 2005 period.

All but one of the retailers increased revenues over the comparable prior period. The exception was ShopKo, whose reported revenues slipped 4.3% to $706.7 million.

Perennial revenue leader Wal-Mart did it again, adding $6.2 billion to finish the quarter at $71.7 billion in revenues, an increase of 9.5% over year-ago results. Target came in second again — the retailer's revenues grew by 12.7%, or $1.3 billion, to end the quarter with $11.5 billion.

The pro forma revenue total for Sears Holding was $12.8 billion, making it the second largest retailer, in terms of dollars, on the scorecard.

On the profits side, five of the eight retailers who reported profits said they added earnings dollars in the latest quarter compared with the year-earlier period. The largest percentage increase in net income belonged to J.C. Penney, which posted a 319.5% jump to $172 million.

Despite solid performances by a number of companies, Wal-Mart once again came in on top in earnings in the latest quarter, adding $295 million in profits to its coffers to finish the quarter with net income of $2.5 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 7.9%, up from its 7.5% result a year ago. Second-place honors went to Target, which recorded ROR of 4.3% in the latest quarter.

For the second consecutive quarter, Burlington Coat Factory achieved the highest same-store sales numbers, recording growth of 7.9%, following by Target's 6.2% increase.

Kids Today's first-quarter retailer scorecard is based on the financial results of nine publicly traded companies with fiscal quarters ending from April 2 to May 28, 2005. As of press time, Burlington Coat Factory had not fully reported its quarterly results.