Nordstrom Q2 Profit Beats Views

reported better-than-expected earnings for the second quarter on Thursday. The Seattle, Washington-based company posted a quarterly net profit of $211 million, or $1.09 per share, versus a year-ago profit of $183 million, or $0.95 per share. Excluding a $0.16 per share gain from the reclassification of receivables as "held for sale" associated with the pending credit card transaction, Nordstrom's adjusted earnings came in at 0.93 per share for the quarter. Its sales climbed 4.6 percent to $3.598 billion from $3.296 billion. However, analysts were expecting earnings of $0.90 per share on revenue of $3.67 billion. Total company comparable sales rose 4.9 percent for the quarter. Gross profit shrank 6 basis points to $1.3 billion, or 35.3 percent of net sales. Selling, general and administrative expenses rose 86 basis points year-over-year to $1.0 billion, or 29.1 percent of net sales. During the second quarter, Nordstrom repurchased 3.1 million shares of its common stock for $233 million. The company now expects full-year earnings of $3.70 to $3.80 per share, versus its earlier forecast of $3.65 to $3.80 per share. It now projects sales to rise 8.5 percent to 9.5 percent, versus previous forecast of 7 percent to 9 percent growth. Nordstrom shares fell 0.78 percent to close at $74.92 yesterday.