Target Corporation said its net retail sales for the four weeks ended May 1, 2010 were $4,288 million, a decrease of 3.5%from $4,446 million for the four weeks ended May 2, 2009. On this same basis, April comparable-store sales decreased 5.9%.


April comparable-store sales were somewhat below our expectation. Based on our combined March and April results, we believe a greater-than-expected portion of sales that otherwise would have occurred in April were pulled forward into March, said Gregg Steinhafel, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Target Corporation. However, April sales in our higher margin categories remained particularly strong, and both of our business segments continued to outperform their respective profit plans for the first quarter. As a result, we now expect Targets first quarter EPS will meet or exceed the current First Call median estimate of 86 cents. All earnings per share figures refer to diluted earnings per share.


For reference, Targets 3.0% comparable-store sales increase for the combined March/April 2010 period was stronger than any monthly performance reported since April 2008.


                  


 

 

                    Sales       Total Sales     Comparable Stores % Change 
                 (millions)     % Change          This Year     Last Year 
April             $4,288         (3.5)                 (5.9)             0.3 
            
March/April    $10,521        5.3                    3.0             (3.5) 
            
Year-to-date $15,158        5.5                    2.8             (3.7)