Edmond J. English, President and Chief Executive Officer of The TJX Companies, Inc., stated, "In general, Christmas business surged late in December, as we had expected. We are pleased with our above-plan December sales, which were driven by the Marmaxx division's strong comp store sales performance. Once again, flowing fresh merchandise to our T.J. Maxx and Marshalls stores right up until the holidays served us well. That said, with continued softer sales at other divisions, we remained disciplined in clearing product aggressively in order to keep our assortments fresh, which resulted in higher-than-planned markdown activity. We are now anticipating fourth quarter earnings per share to come in near the low end of our previously stated range of $.39 - $.42 per share. Moving through January, inventories are in extremely good shape as we begin to transition to spring offerings."
The TJX Companies, Inc. is the leading off-price retailer of apparel and home fashions in the U.S. and worldwide. The Company operates 778 T.J. Maxx, 700 Marshalls, 216 HomeGoods and 131 A.J. Wright stores, as well as 32 Bob's Stores, in the United States. In Canada, the Company operates 168 Winners and 40 HomeSense stores, and in Europe, 170 T.K. Maxx stores. TJX's press releases and financial information are also available on the Internet at www.tjx.com.
A recorded message with more detailed information regarding TJX's December 2004 sales results, operations and business trends is available via the Internet at www.tjx.com, or by calling (703) 736-7248 through Thursday, January 13, 2005. Additionally, the Company expects to release its January 2005 sales on Thursday, February 3, 2005, at approximately 8:15 a.m. ET. Concurrent with that press release, a recorded message with more detailed information regarding TJX's January sales results, operations and business trends will be available via the Internet at www.tjx.com, or by calling (703) 736-7248 through Thursday, February 10, 2005. Archived versions of the Company's recorded messages and conference calls are available at www.tjx.com after they are no longer available by telephone.
SAFE HARBOR STATEMENTS UNDER THE PRIVATE SECURITIES LITIGATION REFORM ACT OF 1995: Various statements made in this release are forward-looking and involve a number of risks and uncertainties. All statements that address activities, events or developments that we intend, expect or believe may occur in the future are forward-looking statements. The following are some of the factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements: our ability to continue successful expansion of our store base; risks of expansion; our ability to successfully implement our opportunistic inventory strategies and to effectively manage our inventories; consumer confidence, demand, spending habits and buying preferences; effects of unseasonable weather; competitive factors; factors affecting availability of store and distribution center locations on suitable terms; factors affecting our recruitment and employment of associates; factors affecting expenses; success of our acquisition and divestiture activities; our ability to successfully implement technologies and systems; our ability to continue to generate adequate cash flows; general economic conditions; potential disruptions due to wars, natural disasters and other events beyond our control; changes in currency and exchange rates; import risks; adverse outcomes for any significant litigation; changes in laws and regulations and accounting rules and principles; and other factors that may be described in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. We do not undertake to publicly update or revise our forward-looking statements even if experience or future changes make it clear that any projected results expressed or implied in such statements will not be realized.
