TJX Q4 Profit Down; To Buy Back Shares; Ups Dividend - Quick Facts

(RTTNews) - Off-price retailer TJX Companies, Inc. (TJX) announced lower fourth-quarter net income of $582.29 million, or $0.81 per share, compared with the year-ago quarter's $604.84 million, or $0.82 per share. On average, 29 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected earnings per share of $0.82 for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude one-time items.

The company said earnings per share rose by 9% over the prior year's adjusted $0.74, which excludes the approximately $0.08 benefit from the extra week in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2013.

For the 13-week period, net sales reached $7.81 billion, a 1% increase from $7.72 billion reported in the 14-week prior-year period. Analysts estimated $7.86 billion in revenues for the quarter. Consolidated comparable-store sales went up 3% year-on-year, on a 13-week comparable basis.

In addition, the firm announced its plan to repurchase nearly $1.6 billion - $1.7 billion of TJX stock in the fiscal year ending January 31, 2015. With $970 million remaining at fiscal 2014 year end under the company's existing stock repurchase program, the board approved a new share buyback program that authorizes the repurchase of up to an additional $2.0 billion of TJX stock from time to time.

Further, TJX plans to raise the regular quarterly common stock dividend to be declared in April 2014 and payable in June 2014 to $0.175 per share. This would represent a 21% increase in the current per share dividend.