BJ's Wholesale Club Q4 Profit Down

(RTTNews) - BJ's Wholesale Club Holdings Inc. (BJ) reported that its net income for the fourth-quarter decreased to $64.31 million or $0.46 per share $66.71 million or $0.71 per share in the prior year.

"We ended the year with all-time high renewal rates and membership fee income. We delivered strong fourth quarter merchandise comp sales, supported by a successful holiday season and continued momentum through January. Looking ahead, we intend to continue to invest in our strategic priorities and look forward to driving further improvement in our business in 2019 and beyond," said Christopher J. Baldwin, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, BJ's Wholesale Club.

Adjusted earnings per share rose to $0.44 from $0.36 in the previous year.

Total revenues declined to $3.42 billion from $3.56 billion last year.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report earnings of $0.36 per share and revenues of $3.39 billion. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Comparable club sales for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2018 increased 2.8% compared to the fourth quarter of fiscal 2017. Excluding the impact of gasoline sales, merchandise comparable sales increased 2.9%, representing the sixth consecutive quarter of positive merchandise comparable sales.