Macy's and Ferragamo see shares rally

In Asia, big news was that Chinese apparel supplier and

retailer Ever-Glory reported an impressive 45.5 percent increase in profits during the first three months of the year, mainly driven by retail and wholesale sales gains.

Also US Macy's reported a double-digit increase (+20 percent) in first-quarter profit despite the threat of a long and cold winter and the persistent economic worries, which, according to ‘New York Post’,” dampened some of its shoppers' spending on spring clothes.”

"We are especially pleased with our first-quarter sales and earnings performance given the challenges we overcame in this period," Terry Lundgren, chairman, president and CEO of Macy's, said in a statement.

Macy's said it earned 217 million dollars, or 55 cents per share in the quarter ended May 4, significantly ahead of the 181 million dollars, or 43 cents per share, reported a year ago. Analysts expected earnings of 53 cents per share on revenue of 6.4 billion dollars, according to FactSet.

Revenue also jumped, by 4 percent to 6.38 billion dollars. Revenue at stores open at least a year rose 3.8 percent while consensus estimate was of + 4.3 percent.

Macy's said it expects revenue at stores open at least a year to rise 3.5 percent for the year and has an estimated earnings per share (EPS) for the full year to be in the range of 3.90 to 3.95 dollars, compared to analysts’ consensus estimate of 3.92 dollars per share.

As widely flagged by analysts following the stock, Macy's is reportedly benefiting from the struggling J.C. Penney´s troubles, which is set to announce its fifth straight quarter of sharp sales drops as it reels from strategies spearheaded by its former CEO Ron Johnson, who was ousted in April. Under Johnson, published ‘USA Today’.

On the back of the news, Macy's stock rose 2.5 percent on Wednesday to a close of 48.57 dollars. The company, which also operates the upscale chain Bloomingdale's, has raised its dividend to 25 cents from the current 20 cents and announced an additional 1.5 billion dollars in stock buybacks.

Elsewhere, Salvatore Ferragamo SpA (SFER), rose to a record in Milan trading after first-quarter profit beat estimates and the company confirmed its projection for earnings growth this year. The stock rallied for two consecutive days after posting record profit on Tuesday, with its shares gaining as much as 4.5 percent to 24.15 euros, the highest price since a June 2011 initial public offering.

“We see a compelling long-term investment proposition at Ferragamo,” wrote Louise Singlehurst, an analyst at Morgan Stanley, in a note Tuesday. Still, the valuation remains “rich” at a multiple of 26 times estimated 2014 earnings, compared with 16 times for the wider luxury industry, she wrote.

Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation rose 26 percent to 48 million euros, Salvatore Ferragamo said after markets closed Tuesday. Analysts predicted 42.9 million euros, according to the average of nine estimates compiled by Bloomberg.