Nordstrom Inc., paced by its online and offprice operations, turned its third quarter around, posting net earnings of $114 million compared with a net loss of $10 million a year ago.
Earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) were $208 million, or 5.9 percent of net sales, for the quarter ended Oct. 28, compared to $55 million, or 1.6 percent of net sales, during the same period in fiscal 2016.
Total sales increased 2 percent to $3.5 billion; comparable sales decreased 0.9 percent. The estimated lost sales impact from the hurricanes was approximately $20 million, or 60 basis points.
Nordstrom’s third quarter showing, posted Thursday, was better than Macy’s, Dillards and Kohl’s, with Macy’s reporting sales slippage in the third quarter but managing a significant profit improvement. Kohl’s reported a decline in income and virtually flat sales for the period, and Dillards was down on both profits and sales.
Nordstrom proprietary labels continued to outperform the company average.
In the Nordstrom brand, including U.S. and Canada full-line stores and Nordstrom.com, net sales when combined with Trunk Club, decreased 1.2 percent and comparable sales decreased 1.9 percent. The top-ranking merchandise categories were men’s and kids apparel. The West was the top-ranking U.S. geographic region.
At the Nordstrom Rack brand, which consists of Nordstrom Rack stores and Nordstromrack.com/HauteLook, net sales increased 5.5 percent and comparable sales increased 0.8 percent. The West was the top-ranking geographic region.