Ross Stores, Inc. reported that sales grew 16% to $672 million for the five weeks ended December 31, 2005, compared to $579 million for the five weeks ended January 1, 2005. December comparable store sales grew 6% over the prior year period.
For the 48 weeks ended December 31, 2005, sales rose 16% to $4.655 billion, compared to $3.998 billion for the 48 weeks ended January 1, 2005. Comparable store sales for the same year-to-date period rose 6%.
In commenting, Michael Balmuth, Vice Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, said, “We are pleased to report that December same store sales performed ahead of our earlier guidance of up 1% to 2%. Juniors and Shoes remained the top performing merchandise departments, while the Southwest continued to be the strongest geographic region. Looking ahead, we continue to forecast same store sales gains of 3% to 4% in January and now project that earnings per share for the 13 weeks ending January 28, 2006 will be slightly ahead of the high end of our previously projected range of $.44 to $.47. This compares to earnings per share of $.35 for the 13 weeks ended January 29, 2005.”
