Federated confirms December sales fall
Like-for-likes down 2.6 per cent
January 9 2003
US operator Federated Department Stores has confirmed tough trading during the crucial holiday period.
Total sales of $2.772bn for the five weeks ended January 4 is a 0.8 per cent decline on the same period last year, and a like-for-like decline of 2.6 per cent.
For the combined November-December period, Federated’s total sales of $4.243bn is a total sales decline of 2.6 per cent, and a like-for-like decline of 4.4 per cent.
Federated’s year-to-date sales totaled $14.661 billion for the first 48 weeks of 2002, a decrease of 1.5 per cent. On a same-store basis, year-to-date sales are down 3.1 per cent.
James M. Zimmerman, Federated’s chairman and chief executive officer, said that although sales for the holiday season were below expectations, the company is sticking to fourth-quarter earnings estimates at the lower end of its forecast of $1.95-$2.05 per share.
Federated operates more than 460 stores under the Macy’s, Bloomingdale’s, The Bon Marche, Burdines, Goldsmith’s, Lazarus and Rich’s brands.
