Macy's same-store sales up 4.1 percent in December

Macy's has announced total sales of 5.102 billion dollars for

the five weeks ended December 29, 2012, an increase of 3.6 percent compared with total sales of 4.923 billion dollars in the five weeks ended December 31, 2011. On a same-store basis, Macy's sales were up 4.1 percent in December as compared to December 2011. Same-store sales increased by 2.5 percent for November and December 2012 combined as compared to the same period in 2011.

“Last month was our fourth consecutive December with same-store sales growth, which is indicative of the sustainability of our key business strategies,” said Terry J. Lundgren, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Macy’s, adding, “While the rate of growth was somewhat less than we had expected in the first two months of the fourth quarter, it came amid some significant headwinds from uncertain economic news and the lingering effects of Hurricane Sandy. All said, we are proud of our accomplishments in driving growth this holiday season and we believe we continued to gain market share.”

“In particular, we are pleased with the significant progress we made this holiday season in implementing our omni-channel initiatives through a period of high sales volume. Our new process for satisfying store and online orders through both our online fulfilment centers and fulfilment stores led us to make better use of our inventories and drive sales that otherwise would have been lost when we ran out of stock locally in certain items,” Lundgren said.

For the year to date, Macy's sales totaled 25.887 billion dollars, up 3.3 percent from total sales of 25.068 billion dollars in the first 48 weeks of 2011. On a same-store basis, Macy's year-to-date sales were up 3.3 percent. Online sales were up 51.7 percent in December and 40.4 percent in 2012 year-to-date compared with the same periods in 2011. Online sales are included in the same-store sales calculation for Macy's.

The company now expects same-store sales for the fourth quarter of 2012 to increase by between 3 percent and 3.5 percent. This compares with previous guidance for fourth quarter sales to be up by approximately 4.2 percent. Earnings per diluted share for the fourth quarter now are expected to be in the range of 1.91 dollars to 1.96 dollars, excluding costs associated with the previously announced debt tender offer and the store closings announced today. This compares with previous earnings guidance in the range of 1.94 dollars to 1.99 dollars per diluted share, excluding those costs.

Including the 21 cents per diluted share for costs associated with the debt tender offer and store closings, earnings per diluted share for the fourth quarter of 2012 are now expected to be in the range of 1.70 dollars to 1.75 dollars.