New York, NY, Oct. 9--Federated Department Stores, parent of the Macy's and Bloomingdale's department stores, on Thursday posted a 3.2 percent rise in September sales at stores open at least a year and raised its third-quarter profit forecast.
Cincinnati based Federated said strong clothing sales and cooler temperatures in the eastern United States boosted September sales.
It said August and September sales were stronger than expected, and it forecast that October same-store sales would be unchanged to up slightly from a year earlier.
It forecast third-quarter earnings of 30 cents to 33 cents a share, up from prior guidance of 25 cents to 30 cents.
The company stood by its fourth-quarter guidance for sales to be down 1 percent to up 1 percent from a year earlier, with earnings coming in at $2.15 to $2.20 a share.
Analysts, on average, had been expecting earnings of 31 cents per share for the third quarter and $2.14 per share for the fourth quarter, according to Reuters Research.
Federated, which had forecast same-store sales in September would be unchanged to down 1 percent, said total sales for the five-week period ended Oct. 4 were $1.35 billion, up 3 percent from a year earlier.
