The TJX Companies Inc.’s (TJX) fiscal fourth-quarter earnings grew 12.0% to $1.05 a share from 94 cents in the year-ago period. The quarterly earnings were ahead of the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.02 a share. Profits were primarily driven by prudent inventory management and increased store traffic.

For the full year 2011, TJX reported a 23% increase in earnings to $3.49 a share versus $2.84 reported in fiscal 2010. Earnings were also ahead of the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $3.47.

For the fiscal year 2012, the company expects earnings to be in the range of $3.63 to $3.78, representing a 10% to 15% increase over fiscal 2011. On an adjusted basis, earnings for the full year are expected to be in the range of $3.78 to $3.93.

Quarterly Details

Net sales during the quarter grew 7.0% year-over-year to $6.3 million. TJX’s consolidated same-store sales increased 2% in the quarter driven by same-store sales growth at Marmaxx (+3%), Home Goods (+2%), A.J. Wright (+18%) and TJX Canada (+4%), partially offset by a decline of 6% in TJX Europe.

TJX’s gross profit rose 5.2% year-over-year to $16.7 million, while gross margin remained flat year-over-year at 26.3%. Merchandise margin improvement and buying and occupancy cost leverage were fully offset by the impact of mark-to-market adjustments related to inventory related hedges.

Selling, general and administrative expenses (SG&A), as a percentage of sales, increased to 17.7%. However, higher sales somewhat offset the increase in SG&A.

Cash Flow, Balance Sheet and Share Repurchase

TJX exited the year with cash and cash equivalents of $1,741.8 million, compared to $1,614.6 million in the year-ago period. Long-term debt was $774 million, reflecting a capitalization ratio of 20.0%. Year to date, the company generated $1976 million of cash from operations and deployed $119.3 million towards share buybacks and $229.3 million towards dividend payments.

For full fiscal 2011, the company repurchased 27.6 million shares worth $1.2 billion. In fiscal 2012, the company again intends purchasing shares worth $1.2 billion.

 
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