Sales rose 15% to $628 million and comp sales 8% at discounter Ross Stores, Inc. for the five weeks ended July 5, 2008. The comp growth came on top of a 4% gain in the prior year.
“We are pleased with the ongoing strength of our business in June,” said Michael Balmuth, Vice Chairman, President and CEO. “We believe that our better-than-expected sales results continued to benefit primarily from our ability to deliver compelling bargains on a wide assortment of brand name fashions for the family and the home. Favorable weather in many of our markets was also a positive factor during the month. Dresses, Accessories and Shoes remained the strongest merchandise categories, while Texas and the Mid-Atlantic were the best-performing markets.”
Mr. Balmuth continued, “We have been able to deliver solid sales gains year-to-date on lower in-store inventories, which is contributing to faster turns and fewer markdowns compared to the prior year. This has resulted in significantly lower clearance levels as we enter the month of July, which is typically a more clearance-driven period. However, based on our recent sales trends, we are now targeting same store sales in July to increase 2% to 4%, compared to our prior projection of flat comparable sales. Based on this updated July sales forecast, and with favorable gross margin trends quarter-to-date, we now project that earnings per share for the 13 weeks ending August 2, 2008 will be $.51 to $.53, up from our prior range of $.43 to $.47, and compared to $.37 for the second quarter ended August 4, 2007.”
