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Appliance retailer Best Buy Co., Inc. reported earnings from continuing operations of U.S. $114 million, or $0.34 per diluted share, for the quarter ended May 29, 2004. Earnings represent an increase of 63 percent compared with $69 million, or $0.21 per diluted share, for the quarter ended May 31, 2003.
First-quarter revenue increased 17 percent to $5.5 billion, compared with revenue of $4.7 billion for the first quarter of fiscal 2004. According to the retailer, revenue increase reflected the addition of 84 new stores in the past 12 months and a comparable store sales gain of 8.3 percent.
The gross profit rate was 25.4 percent of revenue for the first quarter, equal to the gross profit rate for the first quarter of the prior year.
In addition, the company repurchased 1,564,800 shares of its common stock at an average price of $52.38 per share during the first quarter. At the end of the first quarter of fiscal 2005, the company had approximately $118 million remaining under the existing authorization for share repurchases.
For the second quarter of fiscal 2005, which ends on Aug. 28, 2004, Best Buy anticipates earnings from continuing operations in the range of $0.47 to $0.52 per diluted share, an increase of approximately 18 percent. For the second quarter of fiscal 2004, the company had earnings from continuing operations of $0.42 per diluted share.
Currently, the average analyst earnings estimate for the fiscal second quarter is $0.50 per diluted share. Best Buy reported a 75-percent increase in earnings per diluted share from continuing operations for the second quarter of fiscal 2004.
Best Buy said that it expects earnings from continuing operations to increase 15 to 20 percent for fiscal 2005, to a range of $2.80 to $2.93 per diluted share.
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