Kohl's Jan. key revenue figure tops Street's view

MENOMONEE FALLS, Wis. (AP) -- Kohl's said its January revenue at stores open at least a year rose 13.3 percent, soundly beating Wall Street's expectations. The latest figures include an extra week compared with a year ago.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the metric to increase 3.1 percent.

Revenue at stores open at least a year is a key indicator of a retailer's health because it excludes results from stores recently opened or closed.

Total revenue for January climbed to $1.13 billion from $844 million.

Chairman, President and CEO Kevin Mansell said in a statement that the Menomonee Falls, Wis.-based company was able to clear out its seasonal merchandise last month.

Its strongest region was the West and all merchandise categories except footwear reported a double-digit percentage increase in revenue at stores open at least a year. Footwear posted a single-digit increase.

Removing the effect of the extra week in the latest figures, Kohl's Corp. said fourth-quarter revenue at stores open at least a year climbed 1.9 percent. The figure edged up 0.3 percent for the year.

For the fourth quarter, revenue rose 6 percent to $6.34 billion from $6.01 billion. Analysts surveyed by FactSet forecast revenue of $6.3 billion.

Full-year revenue increased 3 percent to $19.28 billion from $18.8 billion.

Kohl's has 1,146 stores in 49 states. Its stock fell 63 cents to $45.62 in morning trading.