Kohl’s Inc. (NYSE: KSS) reported growing profit numbers in the latest quarter.
Numbers released Thursday morning show the “omni-channel retailer” posted a 14% jump in adjusted profit for the first quarter, fuelled by higher traffic in stores during March and April.
Kohl's total net income rose to $66 million, or 39 cents per share, in the first quarter ended April 29, from $17 million, or nine cents per share, a year earlier. Net sales fell 3.2% to $3.84 billion.
Experts were expecting the retailer to post earnings of 29 cents a share on sales of $3.90 billion.
However, Kohl’s same-store sales fell 2.7% for the quarter, compared with a larger decline of 3.9% during the period a year ago. Analysts were anticipating an even narrower decline of 1.2%
Management at the company is looking for opportunities to trade in Kohl's big-box locations for smaller shops.
The company closed 19 stores last year, which ate into Kohl's sales and weighed on its e-commerce results. Kohl's ended the first quarter with 1,154 stores, compared with 1,167 locations a year ago.
On Wednesday, Kohl's Board of Directors declared a quarterly cash dividend on the Company's common stock of $0.55 per share. The dividend is payable June 21, to shareholders of record at the close of business on June 7.
Kohl’s shares are up about 4% over the past 12 months but are down nearly 18.5% for the year-to-date period. They paused for noon hour Thursday at $38.09, down $2.23, or 5.5%, from Wednesday’s close.