Bed Bath & Beyond Profit Fell on Comparable Sales Dip

By Ezequiel Minaya

Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. posted earnings for its second quarter that failed to meet Wall Street expectations as comparable sales for the home-goods chain fell 1.2%.

The results pushed shares down after hours by 2.1% to $42.20

Despite the soft quarter, the New Jersey-based company backed its profit forecast for the year, saying it continues to expect a range of $4.50 to about $5 a share. The company also added that it would pay out a quarterly dividend of 12.5 cents a share, to be paid Jan. 17 to shareholders of record on Dec. 16.

The retailer has suffered along with a range of brick-and-mortar retailers as consumers shop more online. Margins have shriveled and same-store sales have dropped. Recent wage pressures have only added to the company's troubles.

Over all, Bed Bath & Beyond reported second-quarter profit of $167.3 million, or $1.11 a share, down from $201.7 million, or $1.21 a share, a year earlier. The company had roughly 10% fewer outstanding shares compared to the same period a year earlier.

Sales edged down 0.2% to $2.99 billion.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters had projected $1.16 a share of earnings on $3.05 billion in sales.

Sales at stores open for at least a year, a key metric for retailers, declined about 1.2%, compared with a year-earlier increase of 0.7% and analysts' projection for an increase of 0.4%, according to FactSet.

Write to Ezequiel Minaya at ezequiel.minaya@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

September 21, 2016 17:18 ET (21:18 GMT)

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