Nordstrom Profit Tops Estimate; Outlook Disappoints

(RTTNews) - Fashion specialty retailer Nordstrom Inc. (JWN) said Thursday after the markets closed that its fourth quarter profit fell 6% from last year, hurt by mainly increased markdowns and higher occupancy costs.

However, the company's quarterly earnings per share came in above analysts' expectations, but its quarterly revenue fell shy of analysts' forecast.

At the same time, the company forecast first quarter and fiscal 2014 earnings below analysts' current consensus estimates.

Nordstrom shares are currently losing 0.74% in after hours trading after closing the day's regular trading session at $59.44, up 56 cents. The shares trade in a 52-week range of $52.16 to $63.72.

Nordstrom operates 260 stores, including 117 full-line stores, 140 Nordstrom Racks, two Jeffrey boutiques and one clearance store.

For the fourth quarter ended February 1, 2014, the Seattle, Washington-based company reported net income of $268 million or $1.37 per share, compared to $284 million or $1.40 per share for the year-ago quarter.

On average, 28 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to earn $1.34 per share for the fourth quarter.

Total revenue for the fourth quarter grew slightly to $3.71 billion from $3.70 billion in the same quarter last year. Twenty analysts had a consensus revenue estimate of $3.73 billion for the fourth quarter.

Total company same-store sales increased 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Nordstrom same-store sales, which consist of the full-line and Direct businesses, increased 2.2% in the quarter.

Gross profit, as a percentage of net sales, decreased 55 basis points compared with the same period last year, mainly due to increased markdowns in response to heightened promotional activity during the holidays and higher occupancy costs related to Nordstrom Rack's accelerated store expansion.

During the quarter, the company repurchased 2.5 million shares of its common stock for $154 million. A total of $670 million remains under existing share repurchase board authorization.

Looking forward to the first quarter, the company forecasts total sales growth of 3.5% to 5.5% and earnings of $0.60 to $0.70 per share.

For the fiscal year 2014, the company forecasts total sales growth of 5.5% to 7.5% and earnings of $3.75 to $3.90 per share.

Analysts currently expect the company to earn $0.78 per share for the first quarter and $4.05 per share for the fiscal year 2014.