TJX Swings to 2Q Loss, Posts 32% Sales Decline
August 19 2020 - 9:00AM
Dow Jones News
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)
Copyright (c) 2020 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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