Ross Stores, Inc. saw a 7% increase in net sales for the month of November to $481 million from $451 million last ear. Comparable store sales for the month were flat after a 5% increase in the prior year.
For the ten months ended November 25, 2006, sales totaled $4.442 billion, a 12% increase over the $3.983 billion in sales for the ten months ended November 26, 2005. For the year-to-date period ended November 25, 2006, comparable store sales grew 4% on top of a 6% gain in the prior year period.
In commenting, Michael Balmuth, Vice Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, said, “Although November same store sales were slightly below our forecast for a 1% to 3% increase, we are pleased to report that business strengthened during the latter half of the month. Geographic trends were relatively broadbased, and Home and Shoes remained the top-performing merchandise categories.”
Mr. Balmuth continued, “Looking ahead, we believe our merchandise assortments are well positioned for the holiday period, and we remain cautiously optimistic about our prospects for both sales and earnings over the balance of the fourth quarter. We continue to project that same store sales will increase 1% to 3% in both December and January, and that earnings per share for the 14 weeks ending February 3, 2007 will be in the range of $.59 to $.65.”
