Bargain hunters boost BJ
Written on August 22, 2008
BJ’s Wholesale Club Inc. raised its full-year profit forecast on Wednesday as the warehouse club operator benefited from frugal shoppers looking for deals.
The Natick, Mass.-based retailer said it now expects earnings for the year to be in a range of $2.10 to $2.20 per share, up from its May guidance of $2.04 to $2.14 per share. The May forecast was 6 cents per share above the company’s previous expectations offered in March.
Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expect earnings of $2.14 per share for the year.
For the three-month period ended Aug. 2, BJ’s earned $36.5 million, or 61 cents per share, compared with $36.3 million, or 55 cents per share, in the year-ago period.
Sales for the period rose almost 18% to $2.65 billion from $2.25 billion a year ago.
Thomson Reuters said analysts expected BJ’s (BJ, Fortune 500) to earn 57 cents per share on revenues of $2.67 billion for the second quarter.
The company also said it would allocate $200 million for share repurchases.
During the second quarter, BJ’s said it spent about $54 million to purchase about 1.4 million shares of its common stock at an average cost of $37.45 per share.
During the six months ended Aug pay day advance. 2, BJ’s bought approximately 2.4 million shares of BJ’s common stock at an average cost of $35.30 per share, or about $83 million.
Including the $200 million authorization announced Wednesday, the company has about $291 million available for share repurchase.
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