Kohl’s Corp. joins other retailers with slumping sales

Shares in Kohl's Corp. slid almost 9 percent in morning trading Thursday after the retailer reported first-quarter results that missed analysts' estimates.

The department store chain, which has 13 stores in the Indianapolis area, was weighed down by hefty costs and a drop in sales.

A lackluster holiday season across much of the retail sector has become a spring funk. Macy's Inc. slashed its profit and sales expectations for the year on Wednesday and Gap Inc. had some startling numbers and projections earlier this week.

For the three months ended April 30, Kohl's earned $17 million, or 9 cents per share. A year earlier, the Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin-based company earned $127 million, or 63 cents per share.

The current quarter included $64 million in impairments for store closings and other costs.

Earnings, adjusted for those costs, were 31 cents per share. That's below the 36 cents per share that analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research were calling for.

Kohl's revenue fell to $3.97 billion from $4.12 billion. Analysts polled by Zacks expected higher revenue of $4.12 billion.

Sales at stores open at least a year, a key gauge of a retailer's health, declined 3.9 percent. This metric excludes results from locations recently opened or closed.

Kevin Mansell, Kohl's chairman, president and CEO, said in a statement that Kohl's Corp. had to take some markdowns in order to clear excess inventory.

Shares of Kohl's fell $3.28, or 8.7 percent, to $35.42 in morning trading. Its shares are down more than 13 percent over the past year.