Second quarter sales at the TJX Companies were up as strong customer traffic across all its retail brands was cited as the primary driver of the company’s growth.
For the quarter ended July 29, net sales were up 6% to $8.4 billion, with consolidated comparable store sales up 3%. Net income for the quarter was $553 million, down from net income of $562 million in the comparable quarter the previous year. Diluted earnings per share were $0.85 versus $0.84 in the second quarter of 2016.
“Customer traffic was up and was the primary driver of our comp store sales growth at every division and overall merchandise margin was up, which we see as excellent indicators of the fundamental strength, consistency and flexibility of our business,” said Ernie Herrman, CEO and president of TJX Companies. “In addition, we are confident that we are gaining market share at each of our four major divisions.”
The company also reported comparable store sales growth across its four segments: Marmaxx, 2%; HomeGoods, 7%; TJX Canada, 7%; and TJX International, 1%.
For the first half of fiscal 2018, net sales were $16.1 billion, a 5% increase over last year. Consolidated comparable store sales for the first half increased 2%. Net income for the first half was $1.1 billion. Diluted earnings per share were $1.67, a 4% increase over the prior year’s $1.60.
For its fiscal third quarter, the company expects diluted earnings per share to be in the range of $.98 to $1.00. This would represent an 18% to 20% increase over the prior year’s EPS of $.83 and an 8% to 10% increase over the prior year’s adjusted $.91, which excludes the combined $.08 impact of last year’s debt extinguishment charge and pension settlement charge.
