KSS Kohls Corporation

By Anne Steele 

Kohl's Corp.'s revenue continued to decline in the final quarter of the year, as same-store sales fell amid a tough environment for department stores.

The retailer's profit fell much less than expected, though, sending shares up 2.4% premarket to $42.78.

"Sales results were weak for the quarter in total, driven by declines in brick-and-mortar traffic, and offset somewhat by strength in online demand," Chief Executive Kevin Mansell said. He pointed to merchandise-margin improvement and management of inventory and expenses.

In 2017, he said, Kohl's will focus on becoming a destination for active and wellness as it begins selling Under Armour Inc. products in early March. Under Armour is trying to break out of sporting goods and hopes a new casual-wear line and an expansion into the midtier department stores will do the trick.

For fiscal 2017, Kohl's guided for earnings of $3.50 to $3.80 a share, bracketing the average analyst estimate for $3.64, according to Thomson Reuters. The retailer expects sales to be down 1.3% to up 0.7%.

For the fiscal fourth quarter, Kohl's said sales at established stores fell 2.2%--the fourth straight quarterly decline. The retreat matched what analysts cited by Consensus Metrix were expecting.

Kohl's, like other retailers, has been contending with lackluster sales amid dwindling foot traffic, competition from discount retailers and online vendors, and cautious consumer spending.

In all for the quarter ended Jan. 28, Kohl's earned $252 million, or $1.44 a share, down from $296 million, or $1.58 a share, a year earlier. Revenue fell 2.8% to $6.21 billion.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expected earnings of $1.33 a share on revenue of $6.22 billion.

Write to Anne Steele at Anne.Steele@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 23, 2017 08:12 ET (13:12 GMT)

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