TJX TJX Companies Inc

By Allison Prang

TJX Cos. swung to a profit and reported that sales more than doubled from a year ago, but said it thinks it lost out on more than $1 billion in sales because of stores being closed.

The retailer's first-quarter net income was $533.9 million compared with a loss of $887.5 million in the prior-year quarter. Earnings were 44 cents a share and compare with a loss a year earlier of 74 cents a share. According to FactSet, analysts were expecting earnings of 31 cents a share.

Sales were $10.09 billion, up from $4.41 billion a year ago. Analysts were expecting $8.61 billion.

The company said for stores that are open, comparable-store sales rose 16%. That measure is similar so far for the start of the second quarter, the company said.

TJX said some stores were closed for about 14% of the quarter because of the Covid-19 pandemic. It expects closures led to $1.1 billion to $1.2 billion in lost sales and negatively impacted earnings by 21 cents to 24 cents a share. Stores in the U.S. were open for the three-month period.

Write to Allison Prang at allison.prang@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 19, 2021 08:42 ET (12:42 GMT)

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