Source: The Associated Press
BJ's key revenue indicator up, but misses view
July 08 2010 — BJ's Wholesale Club Inc. said Thursday that a key revenue gauge rose in June, but the gain fell short of analysts' expectations.
The warehouse club said revenue from stores open at least a year rose 3.8 percent in the five-week period ending July 3. Analysts had expected the figure to rise 5.3 percent according to Thomson Reuters.
Excluding revenue from gasoline sales, the measure climbed 3.2 percent, also missing the 4.4 percent jump on that basis that analysts had expected.
Revenue at stores open at least a year is a key indicator of a retailer's performance because it excludes growth at stores that open or close during the year.
Overall revenue for the month rose 7.9 percent to $1.08 billion from $1 billion in a year earlier.
For the year through July 3, total revenue rose 11.3 percent to $4.5 billion from $4.04 billion last year.
BJ's officials said sales of food rose by 4 percent while general merchandise sales rose 1 percent.
Departments with the strongest sales increases included air conditioners, cigarettes, dairy, juices, prepared foods, toys, water, among other categories. Weaker departments included coffee, paper products, computers, and prerecorded video and television.
Sales increased in all regions with the largest jump in the Southeast and the smallest bump in the Mid-Atlantic.
Excluding sales of gasoline, traffic rose about 5 percent year-over-year though the average transaction amount decreased by 2 percent.
BJ's has 189 wholesale clubs in 15 states.
FoodBizIntel®
BJ's Wholesale Club, Inc.
Address: One Mercer Road Natick, MA 01760 United States
Telephone: +1-508-6517400
Fax: +1-508-6516114
About BJ's Wholesale Club, Inc.
BJ’s Wholesale Club (BJ’s) is a warehouse club operator in the Eastern United States. As of January 31, 2009, the Company operated 180 BJ’s warehouse clubs, 102 of which operate gasoline stations, in 15 states. Its warehouse clubs includes the sales of food, general merchandise, gasoline and other specialty businesses. As of January 31, 2009, the Company operated 161 full-sized warehouse clubs that averaged approximately 113,000 square feet and 19 smaller format warehouse clubs that averaged approximately 71,000 square feet. Its clubs are located in both free-standing locations and shopping centers. During the fiscal year ended January 31, 2009 (fiscal 2009), food accounted for approximately 64% of its merchandise sales. The remaining 36% consisted of a variety of general merchandise items