Williams-Sonoma boosts earnings forecast after strong holiday sales
E-commerce business grew 30% from year ago
Larry Thomas -- Furniture Today, January 13, 2011
SAN FRANCISCO — Buoyed by a double-digit sales increase during the holidays, retailer Williams-Sonoma said it is boosting its sales and earnings projections for the fourth quarter of its fiscal year.
The parent company of Pottery Barn and several other retail formats said sales jumped 10.5% during the eight-week period that ended Dec. 26. Same-store sales were up 5%.
"We are extremely pleased with our holiday sales performance," said Laura Alber, president and CEO. "A positive response to our key merchandising and marketing strategies, combined with strong operational execution, drove a 10.5% improvement in year-over-year sales, higher gross margins, and better than expected leverage of controllable expenses."
Alber said the biggest gains occurred in the e-commerce channel, which increased 30% during the holiday period and accounted for 32% of total revenues.
As a result, the company increased its fourth-quarter sales projections to $1.17 billion to $1.19 billion. That's up from an October forecast of $1.12 billion to $1.16 billion.
Fourth-quarter earnings are now projected to be 92 cents to 94 cents per share. That's up from an October forecast of 83 cents to 88 cents per share.
As of Oct. 31, the retailer had 259 Williams-Sonoma stores, 198 Pottery Barn locations, and 85 Pottery Barn Kids stores.
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