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Strategies & Market Trends : The Residential Real Estate Post-Crash Index-Moderated -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: patron_anejo_por_favor who wrote (23306)	5/26/2011 8:17:03 AM
From: Smiling Bob	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 119360

Purchase cards running thin? ----- Big Lots profit slides; discounters struggling Big Lots says profit slipped and cuts guidance as discounters wrestle with rising costs ap tweet Email Print Companies: Big Lots Inc. Related Quotes Symbol Price Change BIG 32.33 0.00 Chart for Big Lots, Inc. Common Stock On Thursday May 26, 2011, 7:56 am COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) -- Poor weather sapped sales at Big Lots during the first quarter and on Thursday, the discount chain trimmed its expectations both for the year and same-store sales. It's another bad sign for discounters, which have lured newly frugal shoppers through the doors during the recession. On Tuesday, the wholesale club operator Costco warned that rising costs for everything from meat to cotton for T-shirts is becoming a problem. Big Lots shifted its product mix toward lower margin items early this year, which cut its gross margin rate during the quarter by 30 points. The company also cited rising costs for diesel fuel and freight costs. Big Lots posted earnings of $52.5 million, or 70 cents per share, compared with $55.9 million, or 68 cents per share, a year earlier. That just edged out the consensus Wall Street view, according to analysts polled by FactSet. Revenue for the period ended April 30 dipped 1 percent to $1.23 billion from $1.24 billion. Revenue at stores open at least two years at the start of the fiscal year fell 3.6 percent. This figure is a key gauge of a retailer's health because it excludes results from stores opened or closed during the period. Big Lots Inc., based in Columbus, Ohio, now expects full-year income from continuing operations of $2.75 to $2.90 per share. Its prior guidance was for $3.05 to $3.15 per share. Wall Street had been expecting earnings of $3.03 per share. The company also reduced its outlook for revenue at stores open at least two years. Big Lots predicts that figure will be flat to down 2 percent, compared with a previous forecast for the metric to be up 1 percent to 2 percent. For the second quarter, Big Lots anticipates income from continuing operations of 38 cents to 48 cents per share with revenue at stores open at least two year to be flat to down 3 percent. Analysts were predicting earnings second-quarter earnings of 53 cents per share. Follow Yahoo! Finance on Twitter; become a fan on Facebook.