CHARLOTTE, N.C.-Belk Inc. enjoyed a boon on its bottom line in its fiscal third quarter, with net income soaring 1,750 percent to $11.1 million.
Gains in net sales combined with controls on expenses and a benefit from asset impairment to produce the company’s prosperous quarter, which ended on Oct. 27. Net sales were up 5.9 percent to $837.5 million, including a gain of 5.8 percent in same-store sales. Gross margin picked up 44 basis points to finish at 31.4 percent.
Selling, general and administrative expenses rose 3.2 percent in dollars but were slimmed 74 basis points as a percentage of sales to 28.5 percent. Belk also paid out 9 percent less in interest expenses and received a benefit of $600,000 on asset impairment, as opposed to a cost of $1.6 million in the third quarter of last year.
Describing the third quarter as “another quarter of solid growth,” Tim Belk, chairman and CEO, added, “A key factor in our sales growth is the significant investment we’re making across many areas of our business, including technology, store expansions and remodels, e-commerce and service excellence.”