February 28, 2018 / 1:46 PM / Updated an hour ago

TJX same-store sales beat as bargains continue to attract shoppers

(Reuters) - Off-price apparel retailer TJX Cos Inc (TJX.N) beat analysts’ estimates for fourth-quarter same-store sales on Wednesday, boosted by discounts that drew shoppers to its Marmaxx and HomeGoods stores during the holiday season.

The company’s shares rose 8 percent to $83.50 in premarket trading.

Same-store sales rose 4 percent in the reported quarter, beating the average analysts’ estimate of 2.1 percent, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

TJX also raised its quarterly dividend by 25 percent to 39 cents per share and said it would repurchase about $2.5 billion to $3 billion worth of shares this fiscal year.

Marmaxx, the company’s biggest and most profitable unit which includes T.J. Maxx and Marshalls stores, recorded comparable-store sales that rose 3 percent, beating estimates of 1.5 percent.

    Net income rose to $877.3 million, or $1.37 per share, in the quarter ended Feb. 3, from $677.9 million, or $ 1.03 per share, a year earlier.

    Net sales rose 15.8 percent to $10.96 billion, beating analysts’ estimates of $10.76 billion.

    Reporting by Nivedita Balu in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta