DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
Bed Bath & Beyond Inc.'s (BBBY) fiscal second-quarter profit jumped 14%, as earnings again easily topped expectations as the company reported higher sales.
The housewares retailer has benefited from the bankruptcy of its chief competitor, Linens 'n Things, leading it to pick up market share, and allowing the company to reduce staffing and advertising costs. Still, economic factors are hurting sales.
For the quarter ended Aug. 29, Bed Bath & Beyond reported earnings of $135.5 million, or 52 cents a share, up from $119.3 million, or 46 cents a share, a year earlier.
Revenue increased 3.3% to $1.91 billion.
Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expected per-share earnings of 48 cents on revenue of $1.91 billion. In June, the company said Wall Street's then-estimate of 42 cents a share was "reasonable."
Same-store sales dropped 0.6%, falling for the sixth quarter in seven after previously rising every quarter since the company went public in 1992.
Gross margin rose to 40.4% from 39.9%.
Bed Bath & Beyond has 943 housewares and decor stores and operates about 100 other stores in its Christmas Tree Shops, Harmon and buybuy Baby chains.
Shares were down 2% to $39.02 in after-hours trading. The stock has more than doubled since its nine-year low of $16.23 in November.
-By John Kell, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2480; john.kell@dowjones.com