The TJX Companies, Inc. March 2006 sales were $1.5 billion, up 7% over the $1.4 billion achieved during the five-week period ended April 2, 2005. For the nine weeks ended April 1, 2006, sales reached $2.6 billion, a 7% increase over last year's $2.5 billion. Consolidated comparable store sales for the five-week period ended April 1, 2006, increased 2% over last year. For the nine-week, year-to-date period, consolidated comparable store sales increased 1% over last year.
Ben Cammarata, Chairman and Acting Chief Executive Officer of The TJX Companies, Inc., stated, “Our March comparable store sales increase of 2% was in line with our expectations, which reflected the shift of the Easter selling season from March last year into April this year. Importantly, we saw solid performance at our smaller divisions, particularly HomeGoods, A.J. Wright and Bob's Stores. We are flowing fresh and exciting spring fashions to our stores at great values, every day, as we remain focused on executing the fundamentals of our off-price concept. We continue to expect first quarter earnings per share to be in the range of $.31 to $.33, an 11% to 18% increase
