Ben Cammarata, Chairman and Acting Chief Executive Officer of The TJX Companies, Inc., stated, "Our March comparable store sales increase of 2% was in line with our expectations, which reflected the shift of the Easter selling season from March last year into April this year. Importantly, we saw solid performance at our smaller divisions, particularly HomeGoods, A.J. Wright and Bob's Stores. We are flowing fresh and exciting spring fashions to our stores at great values, every day, as we remain focused on executing the fundamentals of our off-price concept. We continue to expect first quarter earnings per share to be in the range of $.31 to $.33, an 11% to 18% increase over last year."
The TJX Companies, Inc. is the leading off-price retailer of apparel and home fashions in the U.S. and worldwide. The Company operates 801 T.J. Maxx, 721 Marshalls, 252 HomeGoods and 156 A.J. Wright stores, as well as 35 Bob's Stores, in the United States. In Canada, the Company operates 174 Winners and 59 HomeSense stores, and in Europe, 200 T.K. Maxx stores. TJX's press releases and financial information are also available on the Internet at www.tjx.com.
March and April Fiscal 2007 Sales Recorded Calls
A recorded message with more detailed information regarding TJX's March 2006 sales results, operations and business trends is available via the Internet at www.tjx.com, or by calling (703) 736-7248 through Thursday, April 13, 2006. The Company expects to release its April 2006 sales results on Thursday, May 4, 2006, at approximately 8:15 a.m. ET. Concurrent with that press release, a recorded message with more detailed information regarding TJX's April sales results, operations and business trends will be available via the Internet at www.tjx.com, or by calling (703) 736-7248 through Thursday, May 11, 2006.
First Quarter Fiscal 2007 Conference Call
Additionally, the Company expects to release its first quarter earnings on Tuesday, May 16, 2006, before 9:30 a.m. ET. At 11:00 a.m. ET that day, Ben Cammarata, Chairman and Acting Chief Executive Officer, and Carol Meyrowitz, President of TJX, will hold a conference call with stock analysts to discuss the Company's first quarter fiscal 2007 results. A real-time webcast of the call will be available at www.tjx.com. A replay of the call will also be available at www.tjx.com or by dialing 866-457-5717 through Tuesday, May 23, 2006. 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, including projections of earnings per share and same store sales, 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 and increase same store sales; risks of expansion; our ability to successfully implement our opportunistic inventory strategies and to effectively manage our inventories; successful advertising and promotion; 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 and protect data; our ability to continue to generate adequate cash flows; availability and cost of financing; general economic conditions, including gasoline prices; 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; effectiveness of internal controls; 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.
