St. Louis, MO, August 9--May Department Stores reported second quarter earnings that fell by nearly half from the year before, hurt by expenses from its planned merger with Federated Department Stores.
The company reported income in the quarter that fell to $52 million, or $0.16 per share, from $101 million, or $0.33, a year ago. Merger-related costs amounted to about $0.13 per share, while divesting stores and a lowered tax reserve boosted earnings by about $0.08.
The company's results compare with the average estimate for earnings of 31 cents per share from analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial.
Net sales totaled $3.45 billion last quarter, up 17 percent from $2.96 billion a year earlier. However, same-store sales, were down 1.6 percent, May said.
In February, May agreed to be taken over Federated in a deal worth nearly $11 billion.
