Dillard’s profit up 76 percent as sales rise

Department store chain Dillard’s Inc on Wednesday reported a higher quarterly profit, helped by strong gains in same-store sales and cost savings.

The Macy’s Inc competitor posted net income of $31 million, or 63 cents per share, in the quarter ended July 28, up 76.1 percent from $17.6 million, or 32 cents per share, a year earlier.

Same-store sales, at outlets open at least a year, rose 3 percent, the same pace as Macy’s. Net sales rose 3.2 percent to $1.49 billion.

Gross margin from retail operations, a gauge of the profitability of items sold, rose 0.7 percentage points to 34.3 percent of sales, helped by the sales gains and expenses that rose at a slower pace.

Department store chains like Dillard’s that cater to middle class and affluent shoppers fared better than those focusing on price sensitive shoppers. Kohl’s same-store sales were down 2.7 percent, while those of Nordstrom were up 4.5 percent.

Dillard’s shares rose 4.3 percent to $73.33 in after hours trading.