St. Louis, MO, May 10--May Department Stores, which has agreed to be acquired by Federated Department Stores, reported earnings of $41 million, or $0.13 per share, versus $76 million, or $0.24 per share, in the same period a year earlier.
Excluding costs from closing or selling stores, earnings were $47 million, or $0.15 per share. Analysts had expected earnings of $0.17 per share.
Quarterly sales rose 13.7 percent to $3.4 billion, but same store were off fell 5.1 percent.
"Our 2005 first quarter results did not meet our expectations," said John Dunham, chairman and chief executive officer. He said women's and men's proprietary clothing brands were among the weakest performers, and the company cut prices to clear out excess inventory.
First-quarter results included about $18 million, or $0.04 per share, in markdown costs.
The retailer said the integration of recently acquired Marshall Field's stores was on track, and first-quarter earnings included start-up integration costs of $21 million, or $0.05 per share.
The company said its deal to be acquired by Federated was still expected to close in the third quarter, and it recorded costs of $4 million, or 1 cent per share, related to the deal.
