BJ's Wholesale Profit Rises

Gas sales juice revenue.

Author:: TSC and IRIS Staff
Publish date:: Feb 28, 2006 1:27 PM EST

BJ's Wholesale Club's

fourth-quarter profit rose 9.8%, as strong gasoline sales boosted overall revenue.

The warehouse club retailer earned $51.6 million, or 76 cents a share, compared with $47 million, or 67 cents a share, a year ago. Adjusted for one-time items company earned 77 cents a share, compared with 73 cents a share a year ago. Analysts surveyed by Thomson First Call were expecting earnings of 74 cents a share in the most recent quarter.

Revenue rose 5% to $2.15 billion. Analysts were expecting revenue of $2.17 billion in the quarter.

Comparable club sales rose 1.7% during the quarter. Gasoline sales contributed 1% to the overall comparable sales increase.

During the fourth quarter, the Company repurchased about 291,000 shares at an average cost of $27.52 a share.

This story was created through a joint venture between TheStreet.com and IRIS.