Ross Stores, Inc. reported sales of $347 million for the five weeks ended April 5, 2003, a 5% increase above the $329 million in sales for the five weeks ended April 6, 2002. Comparable store sales for the month declined 5% compared to an 11% increase in the prior year.
For the nine weeks ended April 5, 2003, sales totaled $591 million, a 6% increase above the $556 million in sales for the nine weeks ended April 6, 2002. Comparable store sales for the nine weeks ended April 5, 2003 declined 4% compared to a 12% gain in the prior year.
In commenting, Michael Balmuth, Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, stated, “Although we are disappointed with our March sales results, we believe the war in Iraq along with the possibility of a larger than expected effect from the Easter calendar shift impacted our business. Based on these near- term uncertainties, we are being slightly more conservative in our expectations for April and are forecasting same store sales to be flattish for the four weeks ending May 3, 2003.”
Mr. Balmuth continued, “We are pleased to report, however, that the impact on earnings of our slightly below plan same store sales in the first quarter is being partially offset by better-than-expected expense trends and the earlier-than-planned opening of new stores during the period. As a result, if same store sales in April are down 1% to up 1% from the prior year, we believe that earnings per share for the 13 weeks ending May 3, 2003 will be at least $.62, the low end of our prior forecasted earnings per share range.”
Mr. Balmuth concluded, “After the end of April, we hope to have a better understanding of the underlying trend of business and the effect of the Easter calendar shift. In the meantime, we remain cautiously optimistic that our business trends will improve as weather normalizes and the geo-political situation stabilizes. As a result, we are maintaining our prior forecast for same store sales to increase 2% to 3% in the second quarter and 3% to 4% during the third and fourth quarters.”
