ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, November 21, 1996 TAG: 9611210052
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B-5 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: DETROIT
Kmart Corp. posted improved results Wednesday for the second consecutive quarter, the first time that has happened in years and another positive sign for the struggling discounter.
Kmart said it earned $9 million, or 2 cents a share, in the third quarter, a modest profit but better than the break-even results Wall Street had anticipated.
Kmart lost $69 million, or 15 cents a share, in the year-ago period.
It was the second consecutive year-to-year improvement after 13 quarters of losses or lower-than-expected earnings. The improvement came despite a nearly 2 percent drop in sales, $7.85 billion compared with $7.98 billion a year ago.
``I think things are starting to click,'' said analyst Daniel Poole of First of Michigan.
Analyst Joseph Ronning of Brown Brothers Harriman in New York noted that Kmart last year was clearing out large amounts of outdated merchandise, which pushed the gross margin down.
``It's a dramatic improvement over last year, but last year was an absolute disaster,'' he said.
-Associated Press
LENGTH: Short : 33 linesby CNB