Cost Plus posts lower holiday sales, but stipulates sales were best since '04
Retailer of casual home living Cost Plus, Inc. (Nasdaq: CPWM) reported same-store sales for the holiday season declined, but said holiday sales were the best since 2004.
Same-store sales for the holiday period decreased 3.4%, compared with a 6.9% decrease for the same period last year. Despite the decline, the company said it delivered the best holiday same store sales performance since fiscal 2004 and said there are signs of improvement in the direction of the same-store sales trend.
Net sales for the quarter ended Jan. 5, 2008 were $300.7 million, compared with $301.6 million for the same quarter in fiscal 2006. Eleven analysts polled by Thomson were forecasting on average $382.43 million in sales for the quarter.
Shares of Cost Plus (CPWM) gained $0.35, or 9.16% to $4.17 out of the gate. Shares of Cost Plus have been trading in the range of $2.86 to $11.27 for the past 52 weeks.
