WESTBOROUGH, Mass. — BJ’s Wholesale Club Inc. reported better-than-anticipated growth in earnings and revenue for its 2011 first quarter.
BJ’s Wholesale Club Inc. reported better-than-anticipated growth in earnings and revenue for its 2011 first quarter.
The warehouse club chain said Wednesday that net income jumped 29% to $33.7 million, or 62 cents per diluted share, as sales surged 10% to $2.77 billion.
Meanwhile, comparable-club merchandise sales (excluding gasoline) rose 2.4%, as customer traffic gained 2% and the average transaction improved approximately 1%.
The results beat the consensus forecast of 56 cents per share among analysts surveyed by FactSet.
“BJ’s is off to a great start in 2011,” said president and chief executive officer Laura Sen in a statement. “Our stronger-than-expected performance for the first three months of 2011 reflects net sales above plan, continued margin expansion and excellent cost control.”
On the basis of the first-quarter numbers, management raised the low end of its full-year earnings guidance to a range of $2.68 and $2.82 per share from its prior estimate of $2.62 to $2.82 per share.
