Nordstrom up 22% with extra week

Nordstrom Inc. said third-quarter earnings rose 22%, helped by an extra week of sales the company counted in the quarter compared with a year ago, but the luxury retailer lowered its outlook just days before the official start of the Christmas shopping season.

Nordstrom said its profit rose to $165.7 million, or 68 cents a share, compared with $135.7 million, or 52 cents, in that period last year. Results included a gain of 9 cents a share after the sale of Nordstrom’s Faconnable business, which closed in the quarter.

Excluding that gain, quarterly earnings totaled 59 cents a share. On that basis, results topped Wall Street’s expectations. Analysts polled by Thomson Financial had forecast a profit of 52 cents a share.

Revenue rose 5% to $1.97 billion, just ahead of analysts’ estimate of $1.96 billion in sales.

Same-store sales, a key indicator of a retailer’s performance, rose 2.2% for the quarter compared with last year. Same-store sales measures growth at existing stores, excluding newly opened ones and stores that have closed during the year.

Designer items, women’s accessories and men’s apparel sold more briskly than other categories, Nordstrom said.

The company said its gross profit fell in the quarter, hurt by markdowns of extra inventory.

For the fourth quarter, Nordstrom said it expects to post a profit of 88 cents to 92 cents a share, lower than its previous outlook of 99 cents to $1.02. For the full year, the company slashed guidance to $2.78 to $2.82 a share, from $2.80 to $2.86.

The company also cut sales expectations and said quarterly same-store sales would be flat, with December sales rates falling behind those from a year ago.

Nordstrom’s shares gained $3.42, or 11.2%, to $33.94 in after-hours trading, after dropping $1.99, or 6.1%, to end the regular session at $30.52.