Revenue, income up in 2Q
By Janice Chamberlain -- Kids Today, 9/1/2006
It was quite a quarter for the 11 retailers on Kids Today’s second-quarter 2004 retail scorecard. Seven of the companies posted revenues increases while eight improved their profitability pictures.
The largest percentage revenue increase was posted by textiles specialty chain Bed Bath & Beyond, which racked up a 14.6% gain by adding $162.5 million in revenues compared with second-quarter 2003 results. Not far behind was mega-retailer Wal-Mart, which reported an 11.4% revenue increase to $70.5 billion, a $7.2 billion increase over the comparable 2003 quarter.
Wal-Mart’s revenue increase was also the largest for any retailer on the scorecard. Second-place honors went to Target, which increased revenues by $962 million to finish at $10.6 billion for the quarter, a percentage gain of 10%.
Eight of the retailers reported either a profit increase or loss less than the comparable 2003 quarter.
The largest income increase was recorded by Target, which added $1.1 billion in profits to finish the quarter at $1.4 billion. Target benefited from a $1 billion net gain on the disposal of discontinued operations in the second quarter of 2004.
Wal-Mart added $207 million to earnings, resulting in quarterly profits of $2.7 billion, an 8.5% increase measured against net income of $2.4 billion for 2003’s second quarter.
Three of the retailers reported net income in the latest quarter, compared with a net loss for the comparable 2003 period — Burlington Coat Factory, Kmart and Toys “R” Us. J.C.Penney moved from no income a year ago to profits of $1 million in the second quarter of 2004.
Collectively, the 11 retailers on the scorecard posted a $1.3 billion revenue increase, or 6.5%. Aggregate profits for the companies were up nearly $1.3 billion, finishing the latest quarter at $4.4 billion.
Three of the retailers on the scorecard achieved increases in sales, earnings and return on revenues for the second quarter of 2004. They were Target, ShopKo and Bed Bath & Beyond. Wal-Mart just missed the triple by posting a return on revenues score of 3.8% for the latest quarter, compared with 3.9% for the comparable 2003 quarter.
In terms of same-store sales, seven of the retailers reported improvements, with J.C. Penney taking the lead with a 7.1% improvement in 2004’s second quarter. Bed Bath & Beyond was second with a 4.8% gain.
Kids Today’s second-quarter retailer scorecard is based on the financial results of 11 publicly traded companies with fiscal quarters ending from June 26 to Aug. 28, 2004.
