by Alexandra Steigrad
Posted Friday May 13, 2011
From WWD.COM
Improved sales and fewer markdowns lifted Dillard’s Inc.’s first-quarter profit 57.2 percent, which helped the department store handily top Wall Street’s estimates Friday.
For the period ended April 30, the Little Rock, Ark.-based retailer recorded net income of $76.7 million, from $1.31 a diluted share, compared with income of $48.8 million, or 68 cents a diluted share, in the year-ago quarter.
Net sales rose 1.1 percent to $1.45 billion, from $1.47 billion, a year earlier, as quarterly same-store sales improved 2 percent.
Analysts estimated EPS of 91 cents on $1.47 billion, according to Yahoo.
“These results speak for themselves and further affirm the success of our initiatives to create clear distinction at Dillard’s and to return value to our shareholders,” said chief executive officer William Dillard II.
