Ross Stores, Inc. reported that sales for the five weeks ended December 31, 2011 increased 14 percent to $1.149 billion from $1.008 billion for the five weeks ended January 1, 2011 . Same-store sales for the month rose 9 percent on top of 4 percent and 12 percent gains in the prior two years.
For the eleven months ended December 31, 2011 , sales totaled $8.125 billion, up 9 percent over the $7.425 billion in sales for the eleven months ended January 1, 2011 . Comparable store sales for the eleven months ended December 31, 2011 grew 5 percent on top of 5 percent and 6 percent increases for 2010 and 2009, respectively.
Michael Balmuth , vice chairman and CEO, commented, “We are very pleased with our much stronger than expected sales gains in December. These results reflect that value-seeking shoppers continue to respond favorably to the wide array of compelling name brand bargains throughout our stores. Juniors and Shoes were the best-performing merchandise categories, while geographic trends were broad-based.”
Looking ahead, Mr. Balmuth continued, “Based on our above-plan sales and favorable gross margin trends for the first two months of the quarter and our continued assumption for a 1 percent to 2 percent increase in January same store sales, we now project earnings per share of $.82 to $.83 for the 13 weeks ending January 28, 2012 . This updated range compares to our prior earnings guidance of $.77 to $.80 per share, and represents a forecasted increase of 19 percent to 20 percent over $.69 in last year's fourth quarter. All current and prior year earnings per share have been adjusted for our recent two-for-one stock split.”
