Earnings roundup: Same-store sales boost lifts Costco

Shares of Costco Wholesale Corp. soared Wednesday after the warehouse club retailer reported a 5 percent jump in its fiscal fourth-quarter earnings, driven by a rebound in same-store sales growth, cost-cutting and a tighter returns policy for electronics.

The company also expressed optimism about fiscal 2008, saying earnings per share for the full year may come in higher than current Wall Street estimates.

Net income for the 16 weeks ended Sept. 2 rose to $372.4 million, or 83 cents per share, compared with $355.6 million, or 75 cents per share, a year earlier. Results were hurt by a one-time charge of $35.8 million, or 8 cents per share, reflecting a change in how the company accounts for deferred membership fee revenue.

Same-store sales, a key indicator of a retailer’s performance, rose 5 percent during the quarter. The increase for September was 6 percent, up sharply from August, when same-store sales grew by only 2 percent.

Alcoa Inc. ushered in earnings season by reporting a 3 percent profit rise despite slumping revenue, as the aluminum producer’s sale of a stake in a Chinese aluminum company helped lift results.

Alcoa posted earnings of $555 million, or 63 cents per share, for the period ended Sept. 30, up from $537 million, or 61 cents per share, during the same period last year.

The company said its earnings were weighed down by charges from asset sales and restructuring, higher petroleum and energy costs, and other expenses.

Seed company Monsanto Co. posted a wider loss on Wednesday for its fiscal fourth quarter, weighed down by charges related to its acquisition of cotton company Delta and Pine Land Co.

Monsanto reported a loss of $210 million, or 39 cents per share, versus a loss of $144 million, or 27 cents per share, in the prior year.

Quarterly net sales rose nearly 13 percent to $1.57 billion from $1.39 billion in the prior-year period.