Seattle-based fashion cataloger/retailer Nordstrom (NYSE: JWN – news) today reported net earnings of $50.7 million, or $0.38 per diluted share, for the fourth quarter of its 2001 fiscal year. For the fourth quarter of 2000, net earnings and earnings per share were $27.0 million and $0.20, respectively. Last year’s fourth quarter earnings included an impairment charge of $1.7 million (pre-tax) related to the write-down of the company’s 1998 investment in Streamline, which reduced earnings for the quarter $0.01 per share.
Net sales for the fourth quarter of 2001 declined 1.5%, to $1.6 billion, compared to sales of $1.7 billion in the same period in 2000. Sales in comparable stores decreased 3.4%.
Fourth quarter selling, general and administrative expenses declined $25.4 million from the same period last year, decreasing from 29.8% of sales in the fourth quarter last year to 28.8% of sales this year. Net earnings and earnings per share for the 12-month period ended Jan. 31, 2002, were $1.24 billion and $0.93 respectively, compared to net earnings and earnings per share of $1.9 billion and $0.78 for the same period in 2000. Non-recurring, pre-tax charges of $56.0 million, or $0.26 per share, were included in 2000 year-to-date results.
Fiscal 2001 net sales of $5.6 billion increased 1.9% from fiscal 2000. Comparable-store sales in fiscal 2001 declined 2.9%. The impact of calendar variations was negligible. Fourth quarter 2001 sales and pre-tax operating earnings/loss of the company’s Nordstrom.com subsidiary, which includes the Internet and catalog businesses, were $78.3 million and $.2 million, respectively, compared to $87.5 million and ($4.7 million), respectively, for the same period in 2000. Year-to-date 2001 sales for Nordstrom.com were $2.7 billion and ($8.1 million), respectively, compared to $3.10 billion and ($29.4 million), respectively, for the same period in 2000.