KSS Kohls Corporation

Kohl's Corporation (NYSE:KSS). Kohl's Corporation today reported net sales and earnings for the second quarter ended July 29, 2006. Kohl's Corporation second quarter earnings per diluted share increased 27.8 percent to $0.69 per diluted share from $0.54 per diluted share in last year's period. Net income increased 24.1 percent to $232.4 million from $187.2 million. Net sales for the quarter increased 14.0 percent to $3.3 billion from $2.9 billion a year ago while comparable store sales increased 5.5 percent. For the six months ended July 29, 2006, net income increased 28.1 percent to $399.6 million or $1.17 per diluted share, compared to $311.9 million or $0.90 per diluted share for the six months ended July 30, 2005. Net sales increased 15.0 percent to $6.5 billion from $5.6 billion a year ago. Comparable store sales increased 6.2 percent for the same period. Larry Montgomery, Kohl's chairman and chief executive officer, said, "We are very pleased with our performance for the second quarter and in the first half of the year. We exceeded our guidance for both sales and net income. We continue to see consistency in all lines of business and all regions of the country. At the same time, we achieved improvement in our gross margin rate and experienced significant expense leverage on our sales increase. We also made great progress on our share repurchase program, buying over $1 billion of our stock during the quarter." Montgomery added, "Our associates are critical to our success as a company and I want to thank them for their hard work, loyalty and dedication to serving our customers. They are the reason you can continue to 'expect great things' from Kohl's." Share Repurchase During the second quarter, the Company repurchased approximately 18.4 million shares of its common stock at an average price of $55.74. Year-to-date, the Company has repurchased approximately $1.1 billion of its shares as part of its previously announced $2 billion share repurchase program. Earnings Guidance As a result of its second quarter performance and its outlook for the fall season, the Company is raising its full-year earnings guidance from $2.91 to $3.02 per diluted share to $3.04 to $3.13 per diluted share for fiscal 2006. This would result in an increase in earnings per diluted share of 25 percent to 29 percent over last year. The Company issued guidance for the third fiscal quarter of $0.53 to $0.56 per diluted share and for the fourth fiscal quarter of $1.36 to $1.42 per diluted share. Expansion Update The Company now operates 749 stores in 43 states, compared with 670 stores in 40 states at the same time last year. The Company plans to open 68 stores in the fall season of fiscal 2006 with 65 opening in October and the remainder in November. This will complete the opening of 85 stores in fiscal 2006. The Company will make its initial entry into the state of Washington with four stores in the Seattle market and will continue its expansion into Florida, entering the Tampa market with three stores. Second Quarter Earnings Conference Call Investors will have the opportunity to listen to the second quarter earnings conference call today at 5:00 PM (EDT) by dialing (913) 905-3179, using Pass Code 4486225, at least ten minutes prior to the call. In addition, the call will be web cast live over the Internet through the Company's web site located at http://www.kohls.com (see "Company News"), or through Premiere Global Services' web site at https://cis.premconf.com/sc/scw.dll/usr?cid=vlllrzlcmszvmccz. To listen to the call, please go to either web site at least fifteen minutes early to register, download and install any necessary audio software. A replay of the call will be available for 30 days. To access this replay, dial (719) 457-0820, and use Pass Code: 4486225. Investor Conference The Company will host an investor conference in Tampa, Florida on October 4, 2006, which will include a store tour and management presentation. The presentation will be web cast and the audio replay will be available until November 3rd. Further details will be available in the Company's August sales release. Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Information This press release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 including guidance on the Company's targeted sales and earnings. Kohl's intends forward-looking terminology such as "believes", "expects", "may", "will", "should", "anticipates", "plans", or similar expressions to identify forward-looking statements. Such statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties, which could cause Kohl's actual results to differ materially from those anticipated by the forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to those described in Item 1A in Kohl's annual report on Form 10-K, which is expressly incorporated herein by reference, and other factors as may periodically be described in Kohl's filings with the SEC. -0- *T Kohl's Corporation Condensed Consolidated Statements of Income (In Millions, except per share data) (Unaudited) 3 Months Ended ------------------------------------- % to % to July 29, Net July 30, Net 2006 Sales 2005 Sales ------------------------------------- Net sales $3,291.4 $2,888.1 Cost of merchandise sold 2,053.4 62.4% 1,819.5 63.0% ---------- ---------- Gross margin 1,238.0 37.6% 1,068.6 37.0% Operating expenses Selling, general and administrative 758.5 23.0% 672.5 23.3% Depreciation and amortization 96.1 2.9% 82.6 2.9% Preopening expenses 8.0 0.3% 4.1 0.1% ---------- ---------- Operating income 375.4 11.4% 309.4 10.7% Interest expense, net 6.0 0.2% 16.3 0.6% ---------- ---------- Income before income taxes 369.4 11.2% 293.1 10.1% Provision for income taxes 137.0 4.1% 105.9 3.6% ---------- ---------- Net income $232.4 7.1% $187.2 6.5% ========== ========== Basic net income per share $0.70 $0.54 Avg. number of shares 333.4 344.1 Diluted net income per share $0.69 $0.54 Avg. number of shares 335.7 346.8 6 Months Ended ------------------------------------- % to % to July 29, Net July 30, Net 2006 Sales 2005 Sales ------------------------------------- Net sales $6,476.2 $5,630.9 Cost of merchandise sold 4,090.0 63.2% 3,579.1 63.6% ---------- ---------- Gross margin 2,386.2 36.8% 2,051.8 36.4% Operating expenses Selling, general and administrative 1,520.2 23.5% 1,345.4 23.9% Depreciation and amortization 189.4 2.9% 162.6 2.9% Preopening expenses 19.0 0.2% 16.7 0.2% ---------- ---------- Operating income 657.6 10.2% 527.1 9.4% Interest expense, net 20.2 0.4% 33.5 0.6% ---------- ---------- Income before income taxes 637.4 9.8% 493.6 8.8% Provision for income taxes 237.8 3.6% 181.7 3.3% ---------- ---------- Net income $399.6 6.2% $311.9 5.5% ========== ========== Basic net income per share $1.18 $0.91 Avg. number of shares 339.3 343.8 Diluted net income per share $1.17 $0.90 Avg. number of shares 341.6 346.6 Kohl's Corporation ------------------ Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows ----------------------------------------------- (In Thousands) (Unaudited) Subject to Reclassification 26 Weeks Ended --------------------------- July 29, July 30, 2006 2005 ------------- ------------- Operating activities Net income $399,602 $311,920 Adjustments to reconcile net income to net cash provided by operating activities: Depreciation and amortization 189,645 162,995 Amortization of debt discount 108 108 Deferred income taxes 9,279 41,911 Share-based compensation 21,086 21,040 Excess tax benefits from share-based compensation (13,548) (9,606) Changes in operating assets and liabilities: Accounts receivable, net 1,652,065 93,226 Merchandise inventories (170,581) (250,354) Other current and long-term assets (75,906) (35,025) Accounts payable 182,203 261,917 Accrued and other long-term liabilities 123,807 (72,684) Income taxes payable (49,131) (85,474) ------------- ------------- Net cash provided by operating activities 2,268,629 439,974 Investing activities Acquisition of property and equipment and favorable lease rights (706,489) (416,777) Net purchases of short-term investments (359,199) (51,247) Other (2,522) (3,770) ------------- ------------- Net cash used in investing activities (1,068,210) (471,794) Financing activities Repayments of other long-term debt, net (104,596) (2,435) Excess tax benefits from share-based compensation 13,548 9,606 Treasury stock purchases (1,100,809) 0 Proceeds from issuances of common shares 27,406 18,251 ------------- ------------- Net cash (used in) provided by financing activities (1,164,451) 25,422 Net increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents 35,968 (6,398) Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period 126,839 116,717 ------------- ------------- Cash and cash equivalents at end of period $162,807 $110,319 ============= ============= Kohl's Corporation ------------------ Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets ------------------------------------- (In Thousands) (Unaudited) Subject to Reclassification July 29, July 30, 2006 2005 ------------- ------------- Assets Current assets: Cash and cash equivalents $162,807 $110,319 Short-term investments 519,276 140,014 Accounts receivable trade, net 0 1,296,406 Merchandise inventories 2,408,149 2,197,331 Deferred income taxes 10,591 7,013 Other current assets 156,947 82,319 ------------- ------------- Total current assets 3,257,770 3,833,402 Property and equipment, net 5,104,521 4,360,637 Favorable lease rights, net 226,108 218,577 Goodwill 9,338 9,338 Other assets 51,504 42,082 ------------- ------------- Total assets $8,649,241 $8,464,036 ============= ============= Liabilities and Shareholders' Equity Current liabilities: Accounts payable $1,012,174 $966,572 Accrued liabilities 731,583 487,100 Income taxes payable 104,229 82,102 Current portion of long-term debt and capital leases 8,243 105,539 ------------- ------------- Total current liabilities 1,856,229 1,641,313 Long-term debt and capital leases 1,041,314 1,036,172 Deferred income taxes 213,994 224,255 Other long-term liabilities 219,199 167,494 Shareholders' equity 5,318,505 5,394,802 ------------- ------------- Total liabilities and shareholders' equity $8,649,241 $8,464,036 ============= ============= *T