BIG announced a Q2 profit increase of 9%, or 34 cents/share. The increase in profits were due to decrease in expenses reltated to distribution, transportation, advertising and payroll. However, the company's net sales for the quarter decreased by 1.8%. BIG also raised their full-year outlook.
The company reported that its first quarter profits for 2009 rose 5% compared to the previous year's quarter. The company attributes this gain to a decrease in SG&A expenses. Net sales did slip 1% from a year ago, but still be Wall Street's estimates.
For Q4 2008, ended Feb. 2, 2009, BIG reported earnings per share of $1.00, above the analysts' consensus of $0.93. Comparable sales were down 3.2%, but gross margin for the quarter improved 70 bps year-on-year due to better sellthrough of seasonal goods at lower markdowns and lowered costs.
During Q3 2008 ended Nov. 1, 2008, BIG reported sales were down 0.8% to $1.006 billion when compared to the prior-year quarter. Sales from comparable stores opened two years or longer during this fiscal quarter were also down by 0.2%. Outlook for Q4 is not expected to improve.
Big Lots announced that net sales of the company for Q2 were $1,084.9 million as compared to $1,056.5 million in the same period last year; an increase of 2.7 percent. The net profit of the company also increased five times as compared to the last year.
