Department Stores

The May Department Stores Company

The Company

The May Department Stores Co. <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: MAY)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: MAY)") end if %> operates 366 department stores in 30 states and the District of Columbia. The company's trade names include: Lord & Taylor, Hecht's, Strawbridge, Foley's, Robinsons-May, Kaufmann's, Filene's, Famous-Barr, and Meier & Frank. The company sports the premium valuation of the group largely as a result of its outstanding five-year average profit margins of 6.1%, higher than the operating margin of some competitors. May intends to open 125 new stores over the course of the next five years, this in conjunction with strong internal growth should allow May to maintain its consistent double-digit top line growth.

Latest Financials

For the quarter ending May 3, 1997, fully diluted earnings per share from continuing operations were $0.38, a 5.6% increase over $0.36 in 1996. First quarter net earnings from continuing operations were $98 million in 1997 and 1996. Sales for the first quarter of fiscal 1997 increased 7.6% to $2.59 billion versus $2.40 billion during 1996. Comparable-store sales for the 13 weeks increased 1.9% over the similar 1996 period.

(Go to next snapshot.)

© Copyright 1995-2000, The Motley Fool. All rights reserved. This material is for personal use only. Republication and redissemination, including posting to news groups, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of The Motley Fool. The Motley Fool is a registered trademark and the "Fool" logo is a trademark of The Motley Fool, Inc. Contact Us
..

..

..

..

..

....

...

...

...

...