Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, November 15, 1995                   TAG: 9511150045
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: B-7   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

REPORTED EARNINGS

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. reported earnings of $612 million, or 27 cents a share, in the quarter ended Oct. 31, up from $588 million, or 26 cents a share, a year earlier. Sales rose to $22.91 billion from $20.42 billion.

For the first nine months earnings were $1.79 billion, or 78 cents a share, compared with $1.65 billion, or 72 cents a share, in the first three quarters of last year. Sales rose to $66.08 billion from $58.05 billion.

J.C. Penney

J.C. Penney Co. Inc. said its profits fell in the quarter ended Oct. 28 to $240 million, or 95 cents a share, compared with $274 million, or $1.04 a share, in the third quarter of 1994. Sales were $5.13 billion, down from $5.15 billion a year earlier.

For the first three quarters, Penney had profits of $512 million, or $2.02 a share, on sales of $13.93 billion. The company's profits for the first three quarters of last year were $629 million, or $2.39 a share, on sales of $13.74 billion.

Limited

The Limited Inc. said continuing problems in its women's apparel divisions caused earnings to fall to $43.8 million, or 8 cents a share, in the quarter ended Oct. 28, from $90.5 million, or 25 cents a share, a year earlier. Sales rose to $1.8 billion from $1.72 billion.

For the first nine months, including a one-time gain, Limited earned $745.3 million, or $2.08 a share, compared with $191.6 million, or 53 cents a share, a year earlier. Sales rose to $5.11 billion from $4.78 billion.

Woolworth

Woolworth Corp. reported earnings of $34 million, or 26 cents a share, down from $37 million, or 28 cents a share, in the year-earlier period. Sales for the quarter, which ended Oct. 28, were $2.07 billion, down from $2.09 billion.

For the first nine months, Woolworth reported a loss of $95 million, or 43 cents a share, compared with a loss of $43 million, or 33 cents a share, a year ago. Nine-month sales rose to $5.79 billion from $5.72 billion.