TJX TJX Companies Inc

By Dave Sebastian

TJX Cos. swung to a loss for 13 weeks ended Aug. 1 and said sales fell 32% as its stores were closed for nearly a third of the quarter due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The off-price retailer, which operates T.J. Maxx, Marshalls and other chains, posted a fiscal second-quarter loss of $214.2 million, or 18 cents a share, compared with a profit of $759 million, or 62 cents a share, in the comparable quarter last year. Analysts polled by FactSet had expected the company to break even.

Sales fell to $6.67 billion from $9.78 billion in the year-ago period. Analysts were looking for $6.55 billion.

Comparable-store sales for days the company's stores were open fell 3%. The company expects that "open-only" metric to fall by 10% to 20% for the third quarter. It isn't providing financial outlook for fiscal 2021 due to the pandemic's uncertainty.

TJX said traffic and sales moderated as it moved into the third quarter due to consumer behavior and demand related to Covid-19, as well as lighter inventories in stores than planned. Some states are seeing a resurgence in Covid-19 cases.

The company said it has reopened more than 4,500 stores world-wide. Inventories as of Aug. 1 were $3.7 billion, compared with $5.1 billion at the end of the second quarter last year, as the company had planned lower inventory levels to facilitate social distancing, sold more than expected goods at reopened stores and encountered supply-chain and logistics challenges as operations ramped up, TJX said.

TJX said it paid off $1 billion it drew down from its revolving credit facilities in March. The company said it ended the quarter with $6.6 billions cash. It doesn't expect to declare a dividend for the third quarter and has suspended share buybacks.

Write to Dave Sebastian at dave.sebastian@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 19, 2020 08:45 ET (12:45 GMT)

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