Saks sales slip 4.4 percent in June

NEW YORK - Luxury retailer Saks Inc. said Thursday that its same-store sales fell 4.4 percent in June, but beat Wall Street's expectations for a steeper decline after getting a boost from a designer sale event.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had predicted a steeper 11.8 percent same-store sales decline.

Same-store sales, or sales at stores open at least a year, are a key indicator of retailer performance since they measure growth at existing stores rather than newly opened ones.

Total sales slipped 3.8 percent to $230.2 million for the five weeks that ended July 4.

For the quarter-to-date, same-store sales tumbled 15.2 percent, while total sales lost 14.5 percent to $396.2 million.

For the year-to-date, same-store sales dropped 23.2 percent, while total sales fell 22.5 percent to $1.011 billion.

Saks said its sales performance was boosted by the shift of a designer sale event into June this year from May last year. The company said its Saks Fifth Avenue stores experienced continued weakness across all merchandise categories during the month. Sales at Saks Direct, the company's outlet chain, "showed relative strength," Saks said.

Saks said its continues to expect same-store sales to decline in the mid-teen range for the second fiscal quarter.

The company noted it has adjusted its prior-year numbers to remove sales of the company's discontinued Club Libby Lu operations.

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