Sector Snap: Department store sales weak in June

NEW YORK - Department-store operators have spent the past months cutting costs, improving selection and lowering inventory levels in the face of slumping sales, and the efforts seem to be paying off, as several reported smaller-than-expected same-store sales declines in June.

Luxury retailer Saks Inc. said same-store sales fell 4.4 percent, boosted by a designer sale event, much better than the 11.8 percent decrease analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected. Still, shares fell 34 cents, or 7.2 percent, to $4.41 during afternoon trading. The stock has traded between $1.50 and $12.30 over the past 52 weeks.

Nordstrom Inc. said same-store sales fell 10 percent, but that was better than the 11.4 percent drop analysts expected. Shares rose 65 cents, or 3.4 percent, to $19.61. The stock has traded between $6.61 and $37 over the past year.

Mid-tier department store operators Kohl's Inc. and J.C. Penney Co. both reported smaller-than-expected same-store sales declines. But Dillard's same-store sales fell 14 percent, a larger drop than the 10.4 percent analysts were expecting. Kohl's Inc. shares fell 30 cents to $43.05 and J.C. Penney shares declined 98 cents to $26.55. Dillard's Inc. shares fell 4 cents to $8.24.

Macy's Inc. reported same-store sales fell 8.9 percent while analysts expected a 9 percent drop. Shares rose 3 cents to $10.73.

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

In the broader markets, stocks rose modestly after better-than-expected results from aluminum producer Alcoa and a decline in claims for jobless benefits.

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